Rtas' Vadumee: Rise of a Recruit
by OmegaCommander
Summary: The Halo tale of the Commander, AKA Half Jaw, Rtas 'Vadumee,and Klasz Hakamamee,following his Orgin of joining the Covenant with his Father, going through his rise in the ranks up untill the end of Halo 2, and a little bit past that. Thanks to friends.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: None of the characters from Halo, Halo 2, or the Halo books are mine. Klasz Hakamamee (the name) belongs to Mr. Xiran and the character itself belongs to Bungie and Microsoft. Yes, he let me use the character, so don't flame me.

**_Warning: If you copy/plagiarize any part of my story, you will be prosecuted to the maximum legal extent. If I can't really do anything to you legally, I'll just flame you and/or report you, unless it was honestly a coincidence. Enjoy! Note: Recently my dreams came true and the HGN (Halo Graphic novel) was released a long with Half Jaws story and true name, Rtas' Vadumee. Sadly, this makes my story make less sense P. I decided to change my story up a little and had Klasz become Rtas. Of course, this doesn't mean that Rtas wont take on the alias Klasz ) Just read to find out. Special thanks to those who gave me their suggestions._**

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**Rtas' Vadumee: Rise of a Recruit**

**Prologue**

**Delusions and Grandeur**

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"That cruiser is controlled by Brutes. I'll remain here; make sure no reinforcements get in behind you. Then, I'm going to take the cruiser back." He then snapped off the COM channel to the Arbiter and added in a whisper. "Good luck."

The SpecOps Leader watched as the Arbiter nodded in approval and ran into the building which would lead him to one of the Covenant's most powerful land based weapons, a Scarab.

The SpecOps Commander gathered up grenades and supplies from the Brutes he had killed only minutes before and proceeded in his plan to capture the enemy Cruiser, the _Delusions and Grandeur_.

He had to somehow acquire a Phantom and a crew to take over the Cruiser. He didn't have much in the way of manpower, but he did have one of his most loyal Sangheili warriors under his command with him, Donar Igaree. Igaree was a sniper with almost any weapon and can hit a rampaging Ghost with a plasma rifle from a hundred metres away. Igaree's aim was uncanny and frightened his superior a bit, but he dared not let that show. In addition to Igaree's sniper skills, he was also excellent with vehicles. The SpecOps warrior was one of the most proficient pilots he knew. Whether Igaree was piloting a Ghost or a Seraph, his skills usually reigned supreme.

The Commander decided to use Igaree's skills to his advantage. "Igaree, get the Spectre ready, we have a ship to take," said the Commander, his mandibles twitching upwards in a grin.

"Yes, leader!" Igaree said, immediately trying to start up the Spectre's engine. Bright blue coolant leaked out the bottom of the Spectre. He turned off the engine immediately and sought the backup supplies that are kept in a compartment under the gun turret.

The Commander clicked his mandibles and walked past his fellow warrior. He saw two Brute controlled Phantoms parked up ahead on the nearby cliff, gathering troops and preparing to lift off.

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In less than ten minutes, Igaree had plugged the coolant leak and the Spectre was ready to go. As soon as he finished the repairs, he leaped into the plasma turret on the back of the Spectre and announced, "Leader, the Spectre is prepped and ready."

The SpecOps Commander nodded and without another word, climbed into the driver seat. Thanks to the propulsion boosters installed on the back of the Spectres, the Commander reached the two Phantoms very quickly.

His plan was to manage to kill the crew of one of the parked Phantoms, and use the Phantom to reach his destination, the _Delusions and Grandeur_. A relatively simple plan, considering how difficult it would be to eliminate the enemy crew.

It had only been a few minutes until the two Sangheili had reached a cliff a little bit off from the Control Room of Delta Halo. This was also where the two Phantoms were parked. The Commander had decided to climb up to the Control Room tower, and stealthily assassinate the enemy Brutes with the help of Igaree. Unfortunately, this plan would not work.

The enemy Phantoms had already lifted off by the time they got there and was slowly heading towards a small cliff-bridge. Upon closer inspection by the Commander with his binoculars, he could see the Arbiter as well as a couple of Lekgolo and a SpecOps Sangheili warrior.

The Arbiter emerged from the building and onto the bridge, only to be greeted by one of the Phantoms and a horde of Jackals. The Commander saw it from far away and decided to take matters into his own hands.

The Sangheili raced off via his Spectre towards the enemy Phantom, dodging rocks and wreckage from the dead enemy Brute vehicles from earlier.

"Igaree, prepare to fire upon the Phantom. Try not to do too much damage; we'll be needing it for later." He glossed over the fact that Spectres can't do much against Phantoms even if he wanted it to.

"Yes Leader!" replied Igaree, as he raised the plasma turret and carefully took aim.

Igaree's superior knew that his subordinate would hit his mark and would, hopefully, distract the enemy Phantom long enough for the Arbiter to get further through the structure, and at the same time, lure the Phantom to him.

Just as soon as the Commander had drove within range of the Phantom, Igaree opened fire. The light plasma rounds pelted the Phantom but couldn't harm the Phantom.

Soon, the Phantom left the Arbiter and zoomed towards the Commander's position. "Excellent." he mumbled with a click of his remaining two mandibles.

The Phantom fired its plasma bursts, barely missing the Spectre as its driver weaved through the rocks and wreckage. The Phantom continued to gain on the two Sangheili, steadily closing the gap between the two vehicles.

This had all been part of the SpecOps Commander's plan. He had been telling Igaree exactly what to do as he raced in zigzagging paths in order to avoid the Phantom.

"Igaree! Fire now!" the Commander yelled, slowing down and turning slightly to the left to give Igaree an angle.

Igaree did indeed open fire, aiming for the external cameras and vital spots in the Brutes Phantom, but it was difficult. The Brute pilot had realized what the Sangheili was trying to do and shifted the Phantom so that its more heavily fortified portions would take the hits, therefore doing no real damage to the ship.

"Blast!" Igaree said in anger, continuing to try and shoot the enemy down.

Then, a lucky shot penetrated the thin armour surrounding one of the external cameras and disabled it. The Phantom wavered to the side as a result.

As the Phantom landed to avoid further injury, the Commander quickly took advantage of the Brutes' confusion. He sped to where the Phantom landed in time to see it unload a total mass of eight Brutes. Things were about to get rough.

The Brutes unloaded shots from their Brute Shots and Brute Plasma rifles, but the SpecOps Commander was able to easily dodge them all. Igaree held fire on them with his turret, managing to hose two of them down. The Brutes were mad now, and pounded their fists on the ground in anger, continuing to fire off grenades from their launchers, pausing only to reload.

As the Commander was making a turn around, a lucky Brute managed to fire a shot, which tipped over the Spectre. The Sangheili quickly rolled to their feet and crouched, avoiding more grenades from the Brutes.

"Commander, what now?" Igaree said, rolling behind a nearby bolder just in time to escape a fatal shot. The grenade detonated behind him and reduced a rock the size of his head to pebbles "We are cornered."

The Commander decided now was the time to fight, the way Sangheili had fought for generations.

"Have no fear warrior, prepare yourself for close range combat" the Commander said, activating his Energy sword.

"Just follow my lead," the SpecOps Leader said, and rushed into the midst of battle. The Brutes weren't expecting a frontal assault, giving the Commander the two second pause he needed to deliver the killing stroke to the closest Brute's throat. The Brute fell over, writhing in pain as his dark purple blood spilled into the ground.

"RAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The Brutes all yelled simultaneously in rage.

As they did, Igaree activated his camouflage and snuck up behind the Brutes, activating his energy sword at the last second and killed two Brutes with one stroke. Now, with five of the original eight Brutes dead, two of the Brutes dropped their weapons and rushed at the Sangheili, not slowing whatsoever.

They came quickly, and one nearly bashed into the Commander but the adrenaline rushing through his veins allowed him to dodge the blow. The attack was so close to succeeding that the Commander could still smell the putrid breath of the Brute that just passed him lingering in the air. The Commander delivered a strike to the other Brute, who simply shrugged it off as if it were a paper cut and continued until it slammed into the Commanders shield, depleting them instantly.

The Commander gripped his sides in pain and held back a howl as he was hit _again_ by the Brute, this time knocking him off his feet and into a large rock. His back armour wailed as it bent inwards. He groaned in pain, slowly falling into unconsciousness but he fought the urge to sleep and never awake, kicking the Brute in the face with all his might. A hoof print was imprinted into the Brutes face, knocking him back for a moment, giving the Commander time to roll away.

Now that he was free from the attack, he lunged in anger. Not angry at the fact that he almost died, but the fact that he almost died to this _vermin_. The plasma sword he had in his hand broke the Brute's spine with a sickening crack as he sunk it into the Brute's back. The Brute yelled in a gargled voice, and finally died.

He saw that Igaree was having problems of his own, as he was hurled around by a Brute like a rag doll. The Commander rushed to his brother in arm's side, but was almost hit by a grenade fired from a Brute Shot.

The one Brute who had not raged was a Captain, and continued to fire his Brute shot with precise accuracy. The Commander rolled to the side, dodging another shot, he could see now that Igaree had lost his shield, and was being pounded. He had to save him, and quickly.

The Commander knew to save his grenades for what lay ahead aboard the Cruiser, but he needed to use one right now. Pulling one of the seven plasma grenades from his belt, he took careful aim at the Brute Captain. Plasma grenades were well known for their 'stickiness', since they stuck to most things that were alive, as opposed to inanimate objects.

With all his strength he threw his grenade at the enemy Captain. The grenade sailed through the air, in almost slow motion, showing the Brute his eminent death, as it landed on his face.

In pure hatred and anger, the Brute fired his remaining shot, directly at Igaree. As the Brute Captain exploded into tiny pieces, the Commander rushed towards Igaree, and cried at the top of his lungs. "No!" cried the Commander as Igaree fell. His howls of anguish echoed throughout the surrounding canyons as if the earth itself was sharing the Commanders pain.

The Commander rushed towards were his comrade fell, brutally cutting down the Brute that got in his way. Igaree barely breathed and his breaths were already fading away. "No, hang on!" the Commander said, holding Igaree upright. Igaree had been in the Commander's squad since he had become a SpecOps Leader, which is why it was hard for him to lose his fellow soldier. This is why the Commander had raised in the ranks, why he had survived, it was because he cared for his soldiers, and elected a strong bond with each of them.

Tears flowed down the Commander's face as his warrior was sent to the Great Journey prematurely.

No, the Great Journey was a sham. It's only Prophet propaganda to trick us into following them, and when the Arbiter found out the truth, the Prophets abandoned us. After all these years of service, they toss us away as if we're nothing. They'll regret that dearly.

The Commander saw the other Phantom as it whizzed past him towards were the Arbiter still was, finishing off several Drones. He decided he didn't have too much spare time, and dropped Igaree into a ditch and piled some dirt over his body. Then he marked the grave with the traditional symbol of respect that was marked upon important members of the Sangheili race. The unauthorized use of this symbol meant death, but the Prophets made that law and they were on a mission to kill the entire Sangheili race, so who cares?

After this was done, he rushed towards the still landed Phantom, and got into it by activating a fake Brute signal, bringing him up into the ship. He then activated his camouflage as he stealthily cut the pilots throat. He then proceeded to find some sort of way to fix this ship. To his luck he found a Huragok, which was primarily used by the Covenant to fix ships and other electronic devices.

He used it to fix up the cannon systems, and more importantly, the camera system, which Igaree had managed to damage. Without it, it would be impossible to see where he was going. Soon it was fixed so that it would operate, but was still a bit fuzzy.

He knew he didn't have much time, so he left the Engineer to fix the other systems and went to pilot the Phantom.

Soon he was in the air and heading towards the remaining Phantom. As soon as he was within range, he opened fire with all three plasma turrets, showering the enemy Phantom with plasma. With this sudden attack, the other Phantom drew back and charged up its own turrets.

Soon a dogfight transpired in the air over the control room. The Commander had the advantage of surprise before, but now he was taking damage to his already weakened Phantom, and his camera screen kept flickering and becoming fuzzy, and the Commander was afraid that it would eventually fail on him. He couldn't let that happen.

The Commander swerved from the incoming plasma fire, and returned a bit of his own. He had managed to take down two of the three enemy turrets, at the cost of his Phantom nearly falling apart on him. Without a crew to help him, he was running low on options.

In that instant, the enemy Phantom blasted off the Commander's last turret, and pelted him with more fire. "Curse these vile beasts!" The Commander said aloud, dodging as many of the enemy's plasma shots as he could. If this kept up, he wouldn't have a ship to get to the Cruiser, or a life for that matter.

"I can't let this happen! All of the warriors who sacrificed their lives will now be in vain!"

These thoughts and more raced through the SpecOps Leader's mind as he continued to fight off the other Phantom. And then he got an idea.

The Commander cut the power to his engines and as predicted, his Phantom started dropping towards the water below. He had only gone fifty feet when the opposing Phantom followed him, firing with its single turret. With his increasing velocity, all of the shots missed their marks. He was also getting closer and closer to the large body of water surrounding the control room.

He was ahead of the enemy Phantom by about forty feet, but it was slowly gaining on him as the enemy powered up their boosters to maximum. He was close to the water now, and crashing into it would be death, he had to plan his maneuver quickly, or lose everything. At the last possible second, the SpecOps Leader keyed the engines and converted all the power to his thrusters. He manuvered the Phantom so that it was pointing nose up and it skimmed the water top as it pulled out of its dive just in time. The enemy Phantom wasn't so lucky. They had not anticipated the move and simply could not pull up fast enough. The enemy Phantom careened into the water, exploding as it hit the bottom.

"Filthy beasts. May your souls burn forever in hell," the Commander spat as he put his ship on autopilot, putting in the coordinates to the _Delusions and Grandeur_, after which he went and felt relief as he saw the Engineer still okay, and fixing the broken areas of the ship. He decided to bandage up his wounds before he bled to death, and ate a nutrition bar, which should keep him energized for the rest of the day. With this, he went to throw out the dead Brute bodies, and help in cleaning up the ship. He hoped the Arbiter could stop Tartarus before he activated the Ring, or else everything he and his warriors had done would be in vain.

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It had only been thirty five minutes since the Commander had destroyed the other Phantom, and now he was close to the _Delusions and Grandeur_. He knew he had to find more Sangheili and Unggoy if he wished to take over the ship. He double-checked for any type of distress call, but there was nothing. He had his ship identified as a friendly for all Sangheili ships, but also made it appear that he was a Brute controlled Phantom, as to remain secret to the enemy.

Soon though, he found something on the COM radio. It was a call for help from the Sangheili, it said "Brothers, the Prophets, Brutes, Jackals, and Drones have betrayed us; we are fighting on the second Sacred Ring, but have been cornered by the Brutes. Require immediate assistance from any Sangheili forces, over."

The Commander quickly tracked the signal, and found that it was close by. It was near the Control room, and was filled with Sangheili Councillors and SpecOps warriors.

It was perfect, the Commander realized, driving his Phantom towards the beach were he received the signal. With warriors like that, he had a good chance of taking the Covenant Cruiser. Soon he was there, and he saw the wreckage of Phantoms, Wraiths, Ghosts and Spectres. He also saw the bodies, Sangheili and Brute alike

The Beach of Delta Halo had become a sandy grave yard. Blood soaked into the sand, and the water looked on a shade of mixed purple and blue. Fortunately, there was no enemy Phantoms on radar, so the SpecOps Leader didn't have to have a tussle like before. He didn't think his Phantom could take it, even with it being fixed up by the Engineer.

He put out a signal to all Sangheili, which went to them via their helmets, telling them he who he was, and to come out. For a long while, it was completely quiet, too quiet, and then a red Unggoy popped out of a nearby cave. It signalled that it was okay to come out, and four Sangheili Councillors, three SpecOps Sangheili, one Field Master, one Hunter, and six orange Grunts came out of various hiding places.

The Commander recognized the gold Field Master by the name of Nala'mee, a great master of war, and one who also believed in making a strong bond with his warriors. He knew the Councillors right away; after all, he was good friends with all of them. The Grunts and Hunter looked about the same as the others of their race, not to mean disrespect to them.

He lowered his Phantom, after making sure there were no enemies nearby, and that this wasn't a trap. He came out and greeted the warriors, "Field Master Nala'mee, its good to see you again," the Commander said, casually walking towards them.

"It is good to see you as well Commander, but my squad and these Councillors need medical attention and transportation from the sacred Ring or at least transportation from our current position." Nala'mee said, raising his hand in a greeting.

The Commander clicked his two mandibles together and nodded in approval. Now that he had a closer look at the soldiers, he could see most of them were injured, exhausted, or both. "All right, get aboard my Phantom, I'll explain everything there" the Commander sad loudly so that he knew everyone could hear.

Soon after, all of the ex-Covenant soldiers boarded the Phantom via the gravity lift, the Commander made sure he was last, and then jumped aboard. Once inside, he identified one of the Councillors immediately as Zaksz 'Agomee, an old friend of his father, he was happy to see.

"Councillor Agomee," the Commander said, bowing his head, "I'm glad you are still in the fight".

"As I am you are, Commander Rtas' Vadumee" the wise elder said, sitting down on one of the seats aboard the Phantom.

It was rare that anyone use his last name at all, he was used to being called Commander, or Leader. Either way, he had no opposition to the Councillor.

The Commander raised his head and announced "Fellow warriors, Sangheili, Unggoy and Lekgolo alike, we are now kin, and I am here to lead us to victory against the betrayers!" The group of ex-Covenant warriors nodded in approval and listened with rapt attention.

"My mission is to take control of the Covenant Cruiser above us, the _Delusions and Grandeur_, while we do that, the Arbiter is on his way to kill the Chieftain of the accursed Brutes, Tartarus! You will assist me, and we shall destroy the enemy together!" The audience roared, and in the Grunts' case, squeaked in approval.

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After the SpecOps Commander's speech, the crew aboard the Phantom started repairing it bit by bit. All though it was a bit cramped in this Phantom, considering a total of sixteen ex-Covenant soldiers aboard it. The SpecOps Commander knew it might not be enough.

Now, with the camera and turrets fixed up completely, they'd be ready for combat if need be. Twenty minutes later, they had arrived in the space around the enemy Cruiser. The SpecOps Leader had to convince the Brutes aboard he was on their side, or be blown to bits by the plasma turrets it bared.

Soon the transmission from the Brutes to have the Commander's vessel identified. Fortunately, the Brutes were busy with other Sangheili ships, so the Commander was able to easily get in. Soon the Sangheili ship was inside the _Delusions and Grandeur_, and prepared to unleash havoc.

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The Commander estimated only one hundred and twenty Brutes aboard, thirty five Jackals, and twenty two Drones aboard the ship. Apparently, most of the crew had departed in order to stop the Arbiter from reaching the Control room. "Excellent luck for me again, I owe you one Arbiter, if we both make it", thought the Commander, as he and his warriors got their weapons together, and a large amount of grenades.

The Unggoy were outfitted with Needlers, Plasma Rifles, and Fuel Rod Cannons, whilst the Sangheili had swords, Beam Rifles, and Covenant Carbines. The Lekgolo was, of course, outfitted with his main Fuel Rod cannon, but also with some new armour. This armour was similar to before, but protected the earlier exposed areas and was a dark black sheet of steel. He hoped his crew would be enough.

The twenty five Brutes in the docking bay prepared to meet the crew of the Phantom, but instead were met with large amounts of burning hot plasma. The confusion was too great for the Brutes, as they were all burned to a crisp. The foolish ones tried to open the doors, and were successful in allowing more Covenant soldiers to come through and be burned. While some tried to flee, others managed to finally warn their superiors before they were turned to ash.

"Quickly warriors, we must get to the command center before they send more troops, we'll be useless in this thing" with that, the Commanders crew used the gravity lift to get out. They managed to easily pick off a few survivors in the docking areas without a problem, but they all new more Covenant soldiers would be there to greet them with death.

The squad of sixteen moved swiftly through the corridors and managed to get closer and closer to the middle of the ship, since that is were the control room is located. It was a good thing that the Commander knew the ship well, lest it would have been difficult to find the correct passages to the Control room.

After the numerous assassinations, the Covenant aboard were getting very angry and that meant that the Commander had to get his squad to the Control center, now. After passing another corridor, the Commander could swear to the Gods that he could hear something around the corridor.

"Warriors, activate camouflage, Councillors, Lekgolo and Unggoy, stay back here for the moment, Nala'mee watch our backs" the Commander finished as he thumbed his blade, eager to activate it. Although Nala'mee was technically Hakamamee's superior, the SpecOps Commander knew a lot more about stealth and sneaking than Nala'mee. The Field Master gracefully heeded Hakamamee's orders and complied.

The others crouched and waited while the SpecOps warriors activated their camo and cautiously moved forward. As if to answer the Commander's feeling, there was a group of twelve Brutes, fourteen Jackals, and thirteen Drones on the ceiling, waiting. The Commander silently signalled his men to throw grenades behind the enemies, and then upon the Drones.

They all complied, and before the Covenant soldiers knew what hit them, it was too late. Blinding white explosions went through the hall way, killing all the Brutes, Jackals, and Drones. All that at the cost of only six grenades.

After that, the Commander gathered up his troops and proceeded through until they had finally entered the Control Center. It normally would have been far harder, if not for the fact that the ships crew were stretched out in order to maintain it. And now the Commander stood fifteen feet away from a total of eighteen Brutes, eight of which were Honor Guards.

"Attack!" yelled the Commander, as he unleashed his blade and his fellow soldiers did the same. The two fuel rod cannon Unggoy stood in the back, carefully aiming for the precise moment to fire. Nala'mee enjoyed the smell of battle, as he brutally punished the foolish Brutes that got in his way, slicing them down with relative ease. The Councillors fought hard as well, and the Lekgolo tore apart the Brutes, avenging his bond brother's death.

The lead Brute rolled out of the way of plasma and Needle fire, and tackled Nala'mee. Nala'mee staggered back, his shields drained. The Brute then grabbed Nala'mee by the throat and squeezed. Nala'mee tried to break free, but found it hard to escape the Brute's grasp. And then a blade of pure white energy stuck out of the Brute who was grasping Nala'mee, appearing right through his abdomen, and slicing upwards.

Nala'mee sighed in relief as he was freed from the Brutes grasp, thanks to the Commander. Nala'mee nodded in a compliment, and got back into the fight.

After a short, but bloody battle, they had seized the Control room. The Commander only suffered four casualties, but those four had meant much to him. He had lost three Unggoy warriors, and his only Lekgolo, who was hit constantly by Brute shots until it finally fell. He managed to hold back his aggression for his lost warriors, and had them placed in an area were no enemy could find their dead bodies.

After which the Commander sealed the doors to the Control room, and depleted all of the oxygen in the ship, other then the Control room. Only the Drones could survive, the rest fell and gasped for air that wasn't there, and slowly but quietly died.

The Commander finally received a transmission from the Arbiter, indicating that he killed Tartarus and was preparing to return to Earth, and that the Humans were now their allies. It came as a shock to him as to his crew, but he managed to calm down and understood exactly what was going on. He was thankful that his new squad was okay with the news as well.

After jumping into slipspace towards Earth, the Commander settled down in his bed in the Control room, and decided now was the time to rest, perhaps the last chance to rest in a long time. As he lay there, he remembered when he first joined the Covenant with his Father, and when he went by his full name, Rtas' Vadumee…

**_To be continued..._**------------------------------

_**Author's Notes: Thanks for reading; I hope you enjoyed this fanfiction so far. Please review! I'll continue to write if you review! Hehehe...**_

**_P.S. I had a lot of help by Mr. Xiran, whose fanfiction, Halo 3: The Fall of the Covenant, is connected to mine...as you can see, I borrowed the name "Klasz Hakamamee". Well, actually, he made me use it, but whatever. Anyway, we're thinking of somehow linking our stories and when we do, it's gonna be super sweet. Thanks again for reading! P.S I have changed Klasz Hakamamee to his true name, Rtas' Vadumee. But don't worry, Klasz will return, just read to find out._**


	2. Chapter 1 Mercy

**Warning: If you copy/plagiarize any part of my story, you will be prosecuted to the maximum legal extent. If I can't really do anything to you legally, I'll just flame you and/or report you, unless it was honestly a coincidence. Enjoy!**

Disclaimer: None of the characters from Halo, Halo 2, or the Halo books are mine. Klasz Hakamamee (the name) belongs to Mr. Xiran and the character itself belongs to Bungie and Microsoft. Yes, he let me use the character, so don't flame me.

**_A/N: Sorry I haven't updated FOREVER, but I had to deal with a lot of problems , (including my computer shutting down and me having to get a new one, family members funerals, and complete and utter laziness) but I' m finally back on track. I decided to rewrite the second and third chapters before posting them, because they were kind of lame. I'd like to thank my friends, for telling me to keep on writing, especially are favorite Halo Fanfic writer, Mr. Xiran! He's my favorite Fan fiction author and his main story "Halo 3: Fall of the Covenant", is going to connect with my story of Klasz, (who I helped him originally come up with) so tune in to both of our Fics. Now then, on to the show! Note: Recently my dreams came true and the HGN (Halo Graphic novel) was released a long with Half Jaws story and true name, Rtas' Vadumee. Sadly, this makes my story make less sense P. I decided to change my story up a little and had Klasz become Rtas. Of course, this doesn't mean that Rtas wont take on the alias Klasz ) Just read to find out. Special thanks to those who gave me their suggestions.  
P.S This chapter has recently been revised by me, Noah. Enjoy it._**

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**Rtas' Vadumee: Rise of a Recruit**

**Chapter 1**

**Lesson one: Mercy**

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The briefing room of the dropship glowed dark blue and violet, illuminating the area and setting the scene. In the crowded room stood nine Sangheili, seven of which wore leather-like material around their body and no helmet, signifying that they had not obtained a typical rank in the Covenant army yet. The other two were of nobler ranks; they wore deep azure and dark red colors, standing high over the new Sangheili. Rtas looked up upon his leaders, standing silently among his peers. Off to his left stood one of his oldest and most loyal friends, Yzeree. Yzeree was slightly shorter then Rtas, his eyes a dark black color, his build was skinnier in truth then most other's of his race.

Rtas's green eyes drifted slightly to the side of the dropship were he spotted the barren wasteland of a planet, named Bezakumem by his race. This planet was previously the main base camp of the Heretics, who gathered potential soldiers and supplies from this station. Rtas was sent to the base with a handful of academy trained Sangheili to hunt down and capture the now fleeing Heretics. They had supposedly taken fifty Unggoy with them to escape with, possibly to either brain wash or use as some form of hostage. Impudence.

Along with Rtas and his fellow new recruits, the two high ranking Sangheili were to make sure the enemy didn't escape off planet, as well as to give orders to Klasz via COM link. The blue armored Sangheili was known as Zoka 'Xavémee, who Klasz had never known until this point. The red armored Sangheili was the officer who trained Klasz and his group, and his name was Kakuz 'Sanamee, a warrior he had many scars from his brutal time in the Covenant military.

A sudden rocking of the _Spirit_ drop-ship indicated that it was nearly time to drop off the units aboard. Zoka 'Xavémee shouted to the warriors in a gruff voice, his mandibles clinking together loudly as he uttered his speech, sending out spit.

"Recruits! Today is your day to prove your selves to the Covenant! You shall go down and hunt the Heretics, and let not one draw breath from its unholy corpse!"

'Xavémee raised his fist for emphasis, as Sangheilis usually did. The pilot shouted for the recruits to get into place for the landing. Klasz followed the order and put his arms in an "X" shape as he got into position for the drop, his knees bent and ready to absorb the shock from falling to the hard ground.

"When you drop off, you will be supplied with seven Ghosts in order to rendezvous with the Unggoy that were not captured; they are the ones who alerted us of the Heretics fleeing their base. When you find them, radio me in and we will come down and pick you up A.S.A.P. May the grace of our ancestors be with you, and let not fear or indecision stop you!"

With that, the dropship doors slid open and the Sangheili recruits got out from both sides, jumping onto the hard dirt ground. The ship dropped off Ghosts for the Sangheili warriors; they dropped to the ground with a thud as the dropship called Spirit's doors slid shut. Rtas looked as the ship left the atmosphere, spiraling upwards until it was nothing but a speck in the distance.

Fortunately the oxygen on the planet was breathable, and the atmosphere was normal, that simplified things a bit. Rtas looked at his fellow soldiers, and decided to call the foot soldier Unggoy who had spotted and were tailing the Heretics on the ground. The radio made static as it connected with the small foot soldiers.

"Unggoy, this is Rtas of squad division alpha, tell us your location and that of the Heretics."

As calmly as Rtas said this, he felt anticipation about his first mission. His hand drifted slightly to his Plasma Pistol, resting on the butt of the weapon.

"Excellency! We are currently using stealth to track the Heretics. There are four Sangheili Heretics and about fifty or so Unggoy with them! Three of the four Heretic Sangheili are armed; the grunts have four plasma pistols. We are nearly twenty kilometers south from your location."

The Unggoy's voice was both high pitched and excited, but Rtas could sense the nervousness in it even over the COM channel. Either way, he was pleased with the results that were coming through. Rtas clicked his mandibles in glee; the heretics were only seven or so minutes away from them if they rode their Ghosts. Not only that, but they were virtually equally matched with fire arms. Rtas was however, suspicious as to why the dignified Covenant soldiers didn't just attack with a larger group and wipe them all out.

"Perfect," Rtas growled as he walked toward his Ghost and gave the hand signal to the others to get to their own vehicles, the raising and dropping of his fist. "You shall be well rewarded for your duties, what is your name?"

"Zakwaz, your Excellency. But I don't deserve such an honor."

"Nonsense. Continue tailing them, but do not allow them to realize they are being followed. We shall be closing in on your position within seven klicks."

Rtas shut off his COM link, and proceeded on to his Ghost. Yzeree was behind him to the side. He led the Sangheili recruits in a "V" shape, him in the front followed up from units on the sides. Yzeree didn't turn his head, but muttered in his raspy voice to Rtas,

"Good hunting, dear friend."

Rtas raised his hand, returning the favor.

"As to you, comrade."

And then they were off. Passing large rocks and dirt, their Ghosts hovering a mere three feet off the ground. They plunged through the dirty landscape, passing various rocks and small hills. The twin suns of the dirt planet shone on the alien warriors as they made their way towards the Heretics. After passing over a deep trench, Rtas ordered the others to slow down, so that the humming of the Ghosts turned to a soft whine, sensing that they were finally near.

This mission required stealth, and the object of surprise. Rtas found this sort of thing interesting, and decided to not screw his first mission up by not be cautious enough. Using a tracking device that he had kept in a pouch, the Sangheili monitored the area, and found that the Unggoy were right in front of them. Possibly past a hill ahead of him, they were moving slowly.

After crossing through a short distance more, Rtas made contact with Zakwaz. At first, all the young recruit could hear was static, but after a few moments he heard the familiar barks and shouts of the Unggoy soldier.

"Zakwaz, we are approaching your position and are radioing in Zoka 'Xavémee to take control of the situation."

"Yes, Excellency."

Rtas quickly switched his COM channel to Zoka, speaking as deeply as he could, indomitable respect showing through his words.

"Commander, we are at the rendezvous' spot with the Unggoy team. We are near the Heretic's. We believe they are trying to flee to their ship. Waiting for your orders Sir."

He could hear Zoka 'Xavémee anticipation over the COM link, one that always came when a warrior was about to catch his prey.

"Good, good. We have effectively cleansed the area of all Heretics trying to leave the atmosphere. We shall be arriving on your position soon, hold tight."

The COM link turned off and Rtas waited for his leader to arrive. Fingering his pistol again, Rtas clicked his mandibles together tightly and looked at the team he was in.

It consisted of the seven Sangheili recruits, many of which he recognized from the academy, including Yzeree. Out from the distance the young Unggoy appeared, along with him two other's in bright yellow armor. Zakwaz himself wore that of a more veteran red sort of armor. They waddled up closer, sniffing the air and bowing their heads to the Sangheili upon walking over the dirt. Of course, no Unggoy could ever become close to ranking with a Sangheili. Rtas wondered if he was ready yet, if his training would be enough. The doubt was instantly extinguished from his mind as he spotted the incoming dropship, Spirit. It was difficult to see at first, and he hadn't heard it from afar as it was humming lowly for stealth. Nearly touching the ground now, the dropship halted and out of it jumped Zoka 'Xavémee, his blue armor shining in the sun. The dropship flew up towards a nearby mountain in the north. Zoka 'Xavémee strode towards the Sangheili.

"Alright recruits, form up. Unggoy front, Sangheili behind them. The Unggoy will provide us cover fire from the accursed Heretics. We shall pursue them on our Ghosts, but when we get closer we will continue to hunt them on ground to avoid detection, let's go, go, go!"

Rtas followed Zoka in the hunt for the Heretics. They had traveled for nearly eight minutes but in this time had gained on the Heretics and managed to sneak to the side of them, hidden by the mountain. At this point, the Sangheili ditched their Ghosts off to the side of the mountain, hidden by rocks and trees so that they could pursue on foot.

_Ah!_ Rtas realized now exactly why they had left the Ghosts. Not only were they not stealthy enough for the strategy, but they couldn't make it through the rocky terrain of the mountain side easily. He felt stupid for not really thinking about it before.

The Covenant warriors had made it past the Heretics by using the mountainside. Now they stood approximately fifteen feet above the Heretics on a ledge. The Sangheili crouched and quietly sneaked further ahead of the Heretics, who were moving at a steady pace towards the south.

Rtas noticed the Sangheili Heretics wore a yellow colored armor, and marshaled the Unggoy Heretics onward. They wore the colors of the Sangheilis home planet, Along with that; they carried plasma rifles, and plasma pistols. These Heretics were fairly well armed, at least for what Rtas had seen in his time and briefings on these things.

The four Unggoy Heretics mentioned earlier were armed with plasma pistols, and stuck close to their Heretic leaders, looking over their shoulders as they went. They wore the same armor of the Covenant, as they had just recently defected to the Heretics' side.

Rtas sneered in slight disgust. The Heretics had up taken the armor of their homeworld, and were disgracing their culture with their insidious acts of heresy. Oh well, they would soon be taken into Covenant custody. All would be as it should. Rtas thought to himself, as he paced himself, pulling his plasma pistol free of its harness in the name of justice.

This was the final fleeting moment he had heard so often about from his superiors, the moment before the decisive first strike. He braced himself, and followed the plan.

In that instant, Zoka commanded his Unggoy and Sangheili to throw their Plasma grenades down upon the Heretics as they were passing the Covenant strike force from beneath the rocky mountain side.

The Heretic Unggoy barely had the chance to scream as twelve plasma grenades landed in different sections of the line of Heretics. The explosion was massive. Blue fire lit up the area, blowing the small aliens off their feet and causing wide spread panic across the Sangheili traitors, who had managed to roll out of the way and assess the situation. As this went on, Zoka's Unggoy continued to hail grenade after grenade down upon the panicking heretics forcing them to split and try to take cover from above. Now even some of the Sangheili were throwing their grenades into well aimed spots.

When Rtas ran out of grenades, he and his fellow Sangheili recruits jumped from the ledge, landing near the Unggoy and Sangheili heretics. Rtas's job in the strategy was to eliminate as many heretic Unggoy as possible before moving in with his comrades to take out the Heretic Sangheili, hopefully cutting off the smaller creatures fire completely before they could strike back in a large force.

They began ripping into the remaining Heretics, their plasma pistols singed and burned through the traitors tough hides, their screams and roars of pain tore through the sky. Rtas smacked a nearby Unggoy heretic over five feet away were it hit a large rock, its skull crushed and leaking fluid.

Rtas had never been in a combat situation for real and it was invigorating. Still, he felt a great sadness killing the Unggoy. It was difficult to believe any would stray from the Covenant, especially noble Sangheili. He had killed animals back on his homeworld before to survive, but this seemed almost cold blooded. It was a tough galaxy they lived in.

Unfortunately, the distraction of grenades didn't last, and the enemy managed to retaliate. Plasma soon flew through the air, many bolts dangerously passing Rtas. One bolt stuck a recruit in the face, ending his life in a painful way, and causing him to fall to the ground screaming, his hands clawing for his face as he died.

Rtas fought with all the skill he had acquired from his days in the academy, his fellow recruits aided him, taking down multiple Unggoy and a Sangheili Heretic. The other two armed Heretic Sangheili dodged plasma by hiding behind a nearby rock, while the unarmed Heretic warrior rolled to find cover, instructing the remaining Unggoy to calm down. But it was futile; the Heretic Unggoy ran around uncoordinated and even ran into their own kind, crushing several of their own companions without meaning it in the bloody chaos.

Zoka jumped down and fired his plasma rifle at the rock which hid the two armed Heretics, as well as at several nearby Unggoy Heretics, silencing them quickly and painfully as the rifles plasma burned through their weak armor.

Rtas fired his plasma pistol in quick bursts, taking out enemies as he ran towards the rock, his fellow Sangheili covering him as he went, running faster to the final point of destination. He knew this move was reckless, but he had to get the Heretic Sangheili into the open, and it was the duty of the lower ranked to through themselves into the midst of combat to aid their fellow warrior.

Rtas rushed in and caught the enemy Sangheili off guard, firing a fully charged shot into the Heretics face, depleting its energy shields. The alien reeled back in pain as some of the plasma singed his face. Sadly, the plasma pistol burned Rtas's hand and was now overloaded from the heat and would take time before Rtas could fire it again. He dropped the weapon instantly as it starter to burn through his hand.

But the Heretic attacked back, blinded by the shot in the face he gave an under cut to Rtas's stomach with his fist. Firing his plasma pistol, he tried to aim for the recruits head but the plasma still stung his wounded face, and the plasma bolts cut through Rtas's shoulder instead. The Covenant Sangheili screamed in horrible plain, clutching his shoulder and falling to one knee. Purple blood flew from his mouth and shoulder to the ground, and his vision blurred for a moment due to the other Sangheilis superior strength and powerful blow.

The Heretic never got the chance to finish him, because plasma fire ripped through the Sangheilis side, and it fell down face first, its hand twitching. The final armed Heretic yelled in rage, and said in a harsh tone. "Brothers, can you not see that the Prophets are misleading you?!"

The Sangheili rushed at the injured Rtas, dropping its weapon in a berserk rage as it dodged more plasma fire from the Covenant. Rtas knew he would be unable to block or dodge the blow, and he thought he was going to die right then and there.

The Heretic's arm went to a swinging motion, and was about to nail the wounded soldier, only to be hit by Zoka 'Xavémee's solid fist. The Heretic was then hit by several more plasma bursts, courtesy of the other Covenant soldiers, ending his life quickly. Zoka kicked the Heretic down, and wiped his bloody boot on the soil.

With this done, the Covenant soldiers aimed their plasma weapons at the cowering Heretics, as well as picked up the fallen weapons left by the Heretics. Rtas could hear a few remarks from his comrades, most of them insulting the surrendering traitors.

The final Heretic Sangheili was ordered down on his knees, as well as the Unggoy that followed him. The Sangheili recruits gathered their dead; two Sangheili and one Unggoy. Rtas felt grief that they had lost those warriors, but was relived to see Yzeree still alive. The Covenant warrior's placed their dead soldiers' bodies in a pile, and resumed watching the prisoners.

Zoka called in the transport, assuring that they would be picked up soon. Rtas pointed his plasma pistol in the general direction of the prisoners, for if they moved they would receive a face full of plasma.

"Alright, congratulations warriors! Our mission was a success, we shall be leaving this dirt planet soon, and all of you have earned a place in the holy army of our Covenant! There shall be time to grieve for our fallen warriors, but that time is not now. Know that though they have died in battle and are now on their way to the great journey ahead of us."

Rtas knew of the promise, and those who died honorably in battle were blessed by going to the Great Journey. Rtas allowed himself to swell with pride, his first mission completed.

But Commander Zoka was not finished yet.

. All that remains..."

Zoka raised his plasma rifle in the direction of the Heretic Sangheilis face, right between the warrior's eyes.

"...is to finish this mess."

Rtas lifted his head in surprise. There was no reason to kill the unarmed prisoners; they were defenseless after all. What purpose would killing more men serve, were would the honor be?

Rtas lifted his mandibles to object, when Zakwaz spoke up and looked at his superior.

"Excellency, were we not to bring the Heretics back alive?"

Zakwaz gulped as Zoka 'Xavémee turned his head towards the Unggoy.

The blue armored Sangheili fired three bursts of white hot plasma into the Unggoy's head, taking him down.

Rtas's eyes widened in shock. Zakwaz was dead now and all because he had objected to killing the defenseless prisoners?

Zoka looked at the recruits and remaining Unggoy. He spoke in a dark voice, his eyes drifting from soldier to soldier before returning the Heretic Sangheili.

"Rule number one of the Covenant with prisoners..."

He aimed his gun back at the Heretic Sangheili, who showed no fear, perhaps a hint of sadness. And then Zoka fired his rifle in a sustained burst, and the Heretic fell.

"...we don't TAKE them."

Zoka turned and his eyes betrayed sadness and regret, but if this was what he was feeling he did not show it. Zoka took the liberty of taking the body of the fallen Unggoy and placed him by a large rock.

With that done, Rtas was forced to eliminate all the heretics along side his comrade recruits. They didn't look too pleased either.

The dropship was over the horizon and had taken the Ghosts as well. As the ship was loaded with the bodies of the dead or at least the Covenants soldiers including Zakwaz, Rtas looked at the dirt planet as they took off. He had successfully completed his first mission, and was most likely going to get some type of promotion. He had also learned that the Covenant was not big on mercy.

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**_A/N: Well, that took a LONG time...well, at least it didn't turn out terrible. I swear to have a chapter a LOT faster from now on. The chapters will be around 7 Pgs. Some longer even. Again, thanks to the help of Mr. .Xiran's editing. Oh well, Enjoy!_**


	3. Chapter 2 Alien Encounter

**Warning: If you copy/plagiarize any part of my story, you will be prosecuted to the maximum legal extent. If I can't really do anything to you legally, I'll just flame you and/or report you, unless it was honestly a coincidence. Enjoy!**

Disclaimer: None of the characters from Halo, Halo 2, or the Halo books are mine. Klasz Hakamamee (the name) belongs to Mr. Xiran and the character itself belongs to Bungie and Microsoft. Yes, he let me use the character, so don't flame me.

**A/N: Bet you didn't think I'd update you guys with another chapter so soon, huh? Anyway, here is the next chapter in Rtas's story. I will try to update once a week, usually around Friday-Sunday. I can't make any promises though, because School seasons coming up, and I may not be able to write as much. At the very least I will put in around 10-20 chapters, each 7-20 pages long. Also, just for those of you who haven't checked out the revised prologue and Chapter one, Klasz's name has been changed to what it was revealed to be by the Halo graphic novel. Don't worry though, he will go by Klasz soon enough…**

_P.S: This is the revised chapter by me, Noah. Enjoy it! _

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**Rtas' Vadumee: Rise of a Recruit**

**Chapter 2**

**Alien Encounter**

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The _Prophecy _came out of slip-space into the human colony known as _Harvest _with a slight rocking_. Harvest's _three orbiting planets had been glassed earlier by Covenant ships, leaving them barren deserts in the galaxy without any form of nourishment for species that might be unfortunate enough to live on them.

Rtas's stood in the command center, peering at the Gold armored Sangheili who stood in the center of an ascetically barren platform held in place by a latticework of opposing gravity beams. He was gazing at the ships data projections that appeared in front of him, their shimmering lights glowed heavily. He was sending a transmission to an enemy ship; apparently these "humans" were trying to communicate. _What a primitive race, _thought Rtas as he stood at attention.

Rtas allowed himself to pride his new armor, an azure blue color with a black stripe along the helmet's side. The name of the Sangheilis sacred wear was Tzoku, the material mined from the Sangheilis own home world, the name had been taken from a forerunner of legends in Sangheili mythology. It had been several months since he went on his first mission, and during the time up until now he had gone on various other missions, mostly boring or simple patrol through space with his superiors. But soon the drollness of not having a worthy battle was rewarded with a new enemy: The humans.

The Prophet of Truth had told of a great threat that would menace the Great Journey. Rtas did not know exactly how these primitive monkeys calling themselves humans could possibly harm the Covenant in any way, but he was happy with just having the chance to engage in true combat again. After all, there hadn't been many rebellions lately, after the fall of their base the Heretics retreated to hiding, and were soon destroyed by the Covenant's mighty force, few escaping the attacks.

Now a high private, Rtas could now lead lesser Unggoy and Sangheili then himself into battle, and earn the glory and honor that was sure to follow. He identified three human ships two of which were frigates and the third a Destroyer class, named the _Heracles, Arabia, _and the _Vostok. _They had prehistoric like metals, and their ships command centers could be viewed from the very front of the ship, an easy target unlike the Sangheili Destroyers who had their command centers deep within the heavily armored hulls of the ship, were Rtas was currently standing. Of course lesser Sangheili staff members were not allowed in the command center, but Rtas was a special exception to the rule.

They looked similar to the ships Rtas had seen from an assortment of briefings on the humans. When the Covenant had come and destroyed the Harvest Colony in the search for the Sacred Rings, they had encountered the creatures. The Covenant soldiers had instinctively vaporized them instantaneously, after knowing that the race was not of the Covenant and therefore potentially dangerous.

Rtas of course agreed with the situation the Shipmasters made. Since then, Rtas's holy sector, led by none other then his own Shipmaster father Alzeke' Vaduamee, was sent to make sure the human creature's worlds were burned to a crisp. Rtas was proud and fortunate to be under his fathers command. A Shipmaster was a very high rank within the Covenant, given to only the mightiest and holy of Sangheili, whose skills were tremendous in both physical combat and strategy.

Rtas decided to pay close attention to his father, as it could give him Intel as to when the next battle progressed. Alzeke' responded to the translated message calmly, and in a matter of fact tone, as though the mere human's existence was a blemish on the galaxy's face.

"Humans, you have disgraced our grand Covenant with your wretched existence. Your destruction is the will of the Gods…and we are their instrument. Prepare to be exterminated."

With that said, Alzeke lifted his arm and beckoned the signal to fire the plasma turrets, now aimed at the_ Arabia. _Pulse lasers flew at the human vessel, beautiful white light hit its hull, and it went up in an explosion of pasty white and sapphire fire. The meters of armor plating boiled away, and a plume of ignited atmosphere burst from the breach in the ship's hull.

The inhabitants of the _Prophecy's bridge_ cheered loudly, including Rtas. The pathetic human ships stood no chance against the supreme firepower of the Covenant destroyer.

The remaining two ships fired off salvos of missiles towards the _Prophecy, _only to be halted by the advanced shielding systems of the Covenant vessel. Rtas chuckled, admiring the great gift given to the Covenant by the Gods. The Covenant's Sangheili and ships were equipped with a type of shielding system which could halt nearly any attack, at least until the shields died.

As the destroyer's shields shimmered and went back to normal after the useless missiles impacted, the Shipmaster ordered another attack, hitting the _Vostok _with plasma torpedoes on its bridge; effectively crippling it and eliminating any possible options of escape. The _Prophecy _also fired at the Destroyer class ship, sending pieces of it flying through space, debris floating among the stars over the system.

The Sangheili warrior chuckled to himself, as he watched the pitiful human ship tried to escape. Its weakened hull and thrusters could not possibly make for a jump. As it limped through space, trying to move out of the alien's ships range, Alzeke' noticed something. The ship was actually going for a jump. But before the gold clad soldier could voice this, the ship got behind its companion vessel, and maneuvered its way out of the plasma that was sent crashing towards it. And in an instant, it disappeared on the radar.

The ship had managed to initiate a jump out of the system, to the Ship Masters great distaste. Fortunately, the other ship was not firing back or getting away. Alzeke' Vaduamee clicked his mandibles, deciding what to do with the remaining human ship. It obviously was going no were, and destroying it completely now could prevent them from researching this new species. Still, they would be exterminated in the end. Deep down in the Sangheilis heart, he knew they always would.

"Excellency, shall we fire on the human vessel?" asked one of the Sangheili on the bridge in control of the divine weapons the _Prophecy _had to offer. He looked into the green eyes of Alzeke', pools into a warriors mind. His hand was close to the controls, ready to fire at any moment.

Rtas's father turned to face him with the respect he deserved. Sighing almost lazily, he closed his eyes and responded in a hazy tone,

"No, that won't be necessary. I want you to send in several squads of our warriors all the way through their ship to search through their navigation computers in addition to the devices they have to possibly find more star charts of other inhabited human worlds. Besides, I believe that our warriors require a refreshing and invigorating battle..."

Alzeke' said the last part with his mandibles together, the equivalent of a smile for his race. The Sangheili in the ship cheered in unison and gratefulness. Finally a battle for them, after watching the human's ships get obliterated it was time to see how well they fought, up close and personal.

Rtas was most pleased with the chance to gain more honor, and began to step out of the room and make his way to the docking area of the ship when Alzeke' Vaduamee called him.

"Rtas', be sure to get many victories from the fight, and not to let your guard down. I am counting on you to return."

Rtas could feel the softness in his father's voice, and knew that those mere words met far more then they may have appeared to the average creature. What Alzeke said was not meant to be just an order, but an oath that he would bring honor to himself and return. Rtas was his father's only son, after all.

"Yes Excellency, you can believe in me to rid us of this scum."

Alzeke turned back to the ships Command Center, and told him to make his way to the docking area as quickly as possible. Rtas was only too happy to oblige.

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Rtas had boarded a ship with his fellow brethren and Unggoy. He sat opposite of his squad captain, a red armored Major known as Naku 'Malikzee. Rtas had gone on earlier missions with the Sangheili, and knew from experience that he was a well trained warrior and knew what he was doing, although at times could be almost overzealous.

Rtas was second in command of the little troop, which included two other Sangheili and four Unggoy. Of course it was not a large force, but Rtas was still proud of it. The dropship's doors slid shut, and it began rearing out of the cruiser, behind several other dropships which matched the one he was in. They were code named Spirit's, swooping in and dropping off units and then returning to pick them back up.

The dropships took off to intercept and board the frigate known by the humans as "_Vostok", _the human vessel was completely defenseless due to its systems shutting down from the previous attack. As the dark purpled colored dropship made its way through the stars towards the Frigate, Rtas mentally prayed to the Forerunners that this mission would go as a success, as many Sangheili did before battle.

With his prayer carried out, the young Sangheili secured his Plasma Pistol, and pulled out the blue plasma rifle he so favored. The weapon was beautiful to him, it's elongated style and the ability to rain holy fire upon enemy troops had its worth. Of course, as with most of the weapons it could over charge and burn his hand. He checked to make sure that the Unggoy were well equipped, two held Needlers, which would go into flesh and explode, a devastating effect. The other two held Plasma pistols while the Sangheili were all equipped with plasma rifles and the typical secondary weapon, the plasma pistol.

Naku 'Malikzee spoke loudly so that his whole crew could hear him, and in a deep tone that was not uncommon for Sangheili his age.

"Warriors, prepare for combat! We have little knowledge of these wretched beings, but we know they walk on two legs upright and use primitive technology. Still, you must be prepared for anything, don't let your guard down."

The group listened intently, consuming all that their leader said.

"Now then, we shall split into two groups to search through the ship. The Unggoy and Prezal' shall follow under Rtas's command, while Vekune' will come with me. We will regroup at the bridge of the ship, and go from there. Pick up will be called after wards."

As Naku finished, the ship had managed to dock near the back of the ship, an opening made by the plasma cutting tools, revealing the strange human dwellings. As Rtas got out his first thoughts on the human ship was that it was too crowded, and of the odd design. He pondered why the humans couldn't have made it much simpler, but decided to get to the mission instead of just sit and absorb the surroundings.

"GO, GO, GO!" Naku 'Malikzee yelled, and the soldiers got out of the drop ship. The warriors moved in through this part of the ship, which appeared to be storage for human weapons. As the two groups split down the halls, Rtas encountered a short creature running from him and his warriors, nearly five feet tall who barley stood over the typical Unggoy. From the briefings he identified this as one of the humans, and not too pretty of a species in his eyes at least.

The human had short shaggy brown hair, and wore an orange jump suit of sorts that reminded him of the Unggoy's regular attire. The creature turned and an expression of fear made its way onto its face. It raised a metallic object at Rtas with one of its hands, and pulled the "trigger" of the weapon.

A small projectile that flew faster the Rtas could see hit his shield, and it shimmered for a moment, only losing ¼ of its total power, causing Rtas to be slightly pushed backwards. Rtas yelled in his own language, and fired his plasma weapon in three quick bursts at the human's chest. The orange suited human screamed in pain, falling to the ground in a pool of its own red blood, and promptly died.

Rtas laughed at the pathetic human. It had fallen so quickly, that it was made abrupt to Rtas that these Humans could not take much punishment. Rtas's group of four Unggoy and the Sangheili Prezal'followed close behind him, their weapons ready to fire at a moment's notice.

At the end of the human armory was a door that slid open, revealing four of their kind outside of it. These ones looked different then the human that Rtas had killed just moments ago, these one had a brown colored metallic armor, and carried large rifles. Rtas knew then that these were the warriors of the humans, not the pathetic one he had encountered earlier.

One of the humans turned and looked as Rtas along with his group moved in through the door, and shouted in a language Rtas couldn't understand without the help of his COM device.

"Dear god! The aliens!! Their HERE!!!"

Rtas saw the other humans turn and aim their fire arms at Rtas as well as his warriors, the other human being alerting them of their presence. He would pay dearly for that.

Unfortunately for the human Marines, Rtas reacted faster then they could have predicted, rolling to the left and using the cover of an armored crate object. His soldiers followed him, as bullets pinged off of their shields and armor, falling harmlessly to the ground.

Rtas barked out in his own tongue, over the battle that was starting as bullets passed through the air.

"Kill the humans! On my mark, jump out and return fire!"

After several more of these human projectile bullets had passed, Rtas heard clicking, and took that time to retaliate with a vengeance. Using the large crates as cover, Rtas moved out of from the side of it and shot of a burst of six plasma shots at the nearest Marine, who had earlier shouted to his presence.

Backed up with support fire from Unggoy, the Marine fell, his gun and corpse clattering to the hard metal floor with an emotionless thud.

The remaining three Marines fired back, their bullets pinging off the Sangheilis shield, some of the fire hitting the wall. A round cut an Unggoy off guard, and blew him off his feet, its blue blood spurting across the walls as his corpse was sent tumbling through the enclosed space. Rtas rolled forward and crouched slightly to avoid more fire. Prezel and an Unggoy wielding a Needler felled another of the humans, who crumpled to the floor, needles exploding in the open spots of their armor.

Another of the humans screamed as several needles dug into his skin, causing blood to flow out.

"Damn, what the hell are those things???"

The Marine ran behind one of the crates in the room, his companion covering him and following as a plasma pistol's bolt hit him square center in the shin.

Rtas fired at the crate in controlled bursts, having him and his warriors move up. One of the Marines rolled out from the crate, and threw a small fragment grenade at the alien intruders. Rtas rolled forward, as well as Prezal avoiding the majority of the explosion and their shields absorbing the damage. The Unggoy foot soldiers were as not as blessed to have the energy shields that had protected their leaders.

The explosive had bounced of the wall, and hit one of the Unggoy in the face, blowing him away mere seconds later as it exploded. The last two jumped forward, and only got slight burns, shrapnel hitting them from the explosion. The human Marine shouted in victory, the other creature coming out and firing at Prezal'. Prezal's shields had already been weakened by the human grenade, and it soon flickered and faded, allowing the metal bullets to pierce their way through his armor and into his flesh, making their way through the leather before going through the young Sangheilis body.

Purple blood splattered across the wall, as the Sangheili reeled his head back from the blows. Rtas would not allow another one of his warriors die by these sniveling creatures, his anger magnified by his dead Unggoy foot soldier. Rtas jumped up in front of the barrage of bullets, and fired his plasma rifle at the humans in a deliberate burst.

Rtas ushered the Unggoy to get back up and fire, and they struggled to regain their footing. Several of the bullets managed to cut through Rtas's shields, and a few went into his flesh, purple blood oozed from his gash. Prezal' took this time to get back into the fight, his shields recharging as he fired his plasma back at the human soldiers.

One of the Marines took a plasma shot to the face from Prezal, screaming as he fell to the ground with a splat, the red blood surrounding him in a salty pool. The last marine pulled his rifles trigger, but all that came was a "click" sound. The Marine gazed in terror as he realized his clip was empty.

Rtas rushed past the dead bodies, gathering strength to his arm. The marine kept pointing the gun at the incoming alien in dark blue armor, hoping that there might be some chance there were still bullets in the weapon, but it was in vain.

As the human gazed up to the towering Sangheili, his face was crushed by the alien's fist and butt of the Plasma Rifle. The human fell down, his armor making a metallic sound as he hit the ground, his neck snapped.

Rtas relaxed, allowing his shields to recharge to max. He looked at the dead humans that lay a strewn across the floor in a gory mass, their weapons flung to the side or even still clutched in their dead hands. Rtas also looked at his own fallen warriors, one Unggoy had his arm ripped off by bullets, and the other was blown apart by the human's primitive grenade, resulting in an equally unsatisfactory site for any creature.

Sighing for his dead, Rtas commanded the remaining soldiers to follow him.

"That was an exhilarating battle, was it not?"

Rtas asked his fellow soldiers, turning his elongated head slightly to face his comrades. He hoped to lighten the mood of the dead; the stench was making him want to puke.

Prezal' lifted his head and chuckled, placing his rifle in its holster after checking to make sure of no survivors.

"That it was. These humans may not be quite as weak as we had thought, eh?"

The Unggoy simply nodded, not wishing to get involved any further. Whether or not the Sangheili noticed, they were starting to breathe again, and beginning to grieve for their dead. They waddled to follow their superior's anyway, not wishing to dawdle in the chance of angering their leaders.

After a long walk through the ship, Rtas encountered more human soldiers, but only in pairs of two, sometimes less. They were all felled quickly by plasma and needles, and soon Rtas had made it to the "bridge" of the ship. He saw the dead body of Vekune' near the doorway, the body had been riddled with bullets. Sadness came into his heart for the moment, but he allowed it to pass as he went into the bridge, carefully avoiding the dead corpse of his ally.

He was relived to see the dead corpses of five human soldiers and two humans in orange jump suits. At the end of the bridges command center stood Naku 'Malikzee, and beside him a human with long white hair, and a white suite with many medals of sorts on it.

Rtas guessed that the dead human beside Naku' was the Ship Master of the human vessel.

"Excellency, we have killed many of these humans as we made our way to this part of the ship. I have lost two of my Unggoy, but other then that we are fine. Awaiting your following orders."

Rtas felt several of the bullet wounds from the projectiles that made it past his shields and armor. Fortunately, his training allowed him to push the pain aside. After all, it's only a flesh wound.

Naku' turned to face Rtas, and said in his normal tone of voice,

"Good, I am glad to hear you had little casualties against these humans. Unfortunately, these vile humans managed to catch Vekune' off guard, but not before he took out a few with a holy grenade. I have managed to take the humans navigational data, we shall take this back to the _Prophecy _and have it translated. We must go immediately."

Naku 'Malikzee called in the dropship using his COM device telling them that they were on their way and to prepare to return to the ship, as well as that they had important human data. After closing the COM channel, Naku' had them form up and make their way back to the ship.

As they rounded another corner, Rtas spotted six human marines getting into a pod of sorts, apparently trying to escape from the doomed human vessel, which Rtas could feel falling apart underneath him.

Rtas yelled in his language and pointed at the fleeing humans. The Sangheili and Unggoy began firing at them, but most of them were in by now. As the last one was getting in, he fired his assault rifle in a long burst at the alien warriors, backing into the pod.

Rtas allowed the bullets to hit his shield, depleting it by about half of its original shield, Rtas moved up and broke into a run as the Marine started sealing the door. With all his strength, Rtas threw a plasma grenade into the closing room.

"Holy light!"

The grenade dropped in, and the doors shut with the human's face in panic. The escape pod flew off and exploded from the inside due to Rtas's grenade. Satisfied, Rtas rejoined his group.

"Excellent work Rtas! You shall be rewarded for your duties here."

"I was merely following my oath to the Covenant."

Naku' clicked his mandibles and had them move up, and into their drop ship. The ship began pulling away from the human frigate as its doors slid shut. Soon they were completely separated, and were heading back to their ship. They were behind the other drop ships, and would be pulling into the _Prophecy _soon. Rtas had finally been enthralled with combat, and had delivered a blow to the human forces.

In the ship, the Admiral of _Vostok _slowly died. As blood came from his mouth, he could hear the ship around him blowing up. No doubt the Covenant had left. After being shot in the chest by the plasma like weapon, the alien had smacked him down and crushed him with its massive hoof. The admiral had managed to delete all information about Reach and Earth; he hoped it would be enough. As the ship exploded around him in a blaze of white and blue, he closed his eyes...

_**To be continued…….**_

**_A/N: Well, there ya go. As you can see, the story will get better as it goes on, with more action as well. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I know I liked it. Be sure to keep an eye out for my next one. Also, Mr. Xiran will no longer be editing my works, as he has told me I have improved enough to do it on my own (unbelievable, eh?). I thank him for all his help, as well as for making such a great fan fiction Halo 3 Fall of the Covenant_**


	4. Chapter 3 Infiltration Works

**Warning: If you copy/plagiarize any part of my story, you will be prosecuted to the maximum legal extent. If I can't really do anything to you legally, I'll just flame you and/or report you, unless it was honestly a coincidence. Enjoy!**

Disclaimer: None of the characters from Halo, Halo 2, or the Halo books are mine. Klasz Hakamamee (the name) belongs to Mr. Xiran and the character itself belongs to Bungie and Microsoft. Yes, he let me use the character, so don't flame me.

**A/N: Hi again, as I promised here's the next chapter. The action in the story is starting to heat up, and the war between Humanity and the Covenant is beginning. **

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**Rtas' Vadumee: Rise of a Recruit**

**Chapter 3**

**Infiltration Works**

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After the destruction of the human system Harvest as well as their ships, Rtas had returned to the destroyer The _Prophecy_ and was rewarded well. He had been given praise by his commanding officer, the soldiers under his command and himself being awarded medals as well as a relaxing ceremonial dinner that the returning warriors were afforded. It made Rtas's mandibles twitch in delight.

Before digging into the feast with his warriors, they uttered a prayer underneath their breath which Rtas was careful to recite,

_So full of hate were our eyes_

_That none of us could see_

_Our world would yield countless dead_

_But never victory_

_So let us cast arms aside_

_And like discard our wrath_

_Thou in faith will keep us safe _

_Whilst we find the path_

Rtas had burned the Covenants Writ of Union into his mind since the day he had joined the Covenant, the day of his oath to the Prophets. After the Sangheilis prayer, they began tearing viciously into the meats and fruits that the chiefs of the _Prophecy_ prepared. Rtas saw the alien meats blood squirt from the dead pig like animal, the green blood fell onto his leathery vest. The food was delectable, his mandibles crushing the bones.

The young Sangheili searched the room for a moment, looking for his father but realized too soon that he was not there. Rtas knew that Alzeke' Vaduamee held himself in the command center, most likely re-watching the battles that took place on the humans frigate the _Vostok, _thanks to the cameras in Sangheilis armor.

Rtas decided to wait until he would be called in for a briefing to meet with his father in person. For now, he decided to depart off to his quarters in the bow of the ship. As the young soldier made his way down the path to his station, he passed by numerous small aliens, who were amorphous creatures held aloft by gas bladders. The creatures were known as engineers, and they possessed uncanny skills to dismantle, repair, and resemble nearly all complex technology.

Rtas pushed them aside which caused them to bob slightly to the side, but they soon turned back to work on the ships systems. After passing many Sangheili in the halls Rtas overheard two Unggoy having a conversation.

"Why is it that we always get stuck with the grunt work on the ship? We did not even get to eat at the big Sangheili feast, and those aliens nearly shredded us!"

The other Unggoy turned slightly to be at eye level with his comrade as he snickered.

"You should watch your tongue, kemeph. The Sangheili are the "sacred" warriors. We don't get this work done by the time the Kig-Yar gets here, we are gonna be in BIG trouble…"

Rtas approached the Unggoy, and they heard the click-clack of his boots, turning around to see the towering warrior. The first Unggoy jumped in surprise, falling over. The second Unggoy slightly hopped in surprise and started to say something only to be cut off by Rtas.

"Ah, keep up the good work Unggoy."

Rtas decided not to dawdle, and started to go at a faster pace to his room. The Unggoy just stared in surprise.

After arriving in his room, the Sangheili laid down on his gray colored mattress, and fell into a deep sleep……

Rtas's green eyes opened simultaneously to the sound of boots just on the out side of his residence. Rtas pulled himself up, moving the comforts of sleep away; he quickly began suiting up in his righteous armor Tzoku. He marveled at the simple yet defined beauty of the body armor as he placed the helmet on, putting armor over his mandibles.

After placing his boots on the correct hooves, Rtas clicked several glowing buttons by his door's room, entering the password. The door split open and Rtas walked out to a cluster of other Covenant soldiers prepped and ready. The destroyer had earlier gone through slip space, back to High Charity which was the Covenants base of operation and home of the three Prophets of Mercy, Regret and Truth. The Covenants council always took residence in the massive planet ship, were they decided the course of action and reviewed many ancient prophecies.

Like other Sangheili, Rtas was more of a warrior then a monk. He believed that if one fought in battle well, he would be rewarded by the Great Journey, were he would meet if his flesh should fail in battle.

As Rtas passed many more sliding doors, he noticed the large hunting grounds installed in all Covenant ships, were Sangheili practiced their hunting skills against various animals from their homeworld. Rtas had gone their many a time to train himself physically and mentally, following the tracks left by the animals and generally enjoying the thrill of the hunt. The dome contained the hunting preserve, and easily incorporated the feel of the Sangheilis home world with immense trees and long grass.

The corridors of the destroyer were thick and filled with Covenant officer Sangheili, major Kig-Yar, and several veteran Unggoy. The Engineers cluttered around the vast spaces on the ship, checking around for anything that needed to be fixed. Passing them with a face full of respect, Rtas boarded a large Grav lift, taking him up to the inner sanctity of the Ship Masters station. Rtas met with two Sangheili officers.

"Rtas, the Ship Master wishes to see you."

Rtas bowed to the higher ranking warrior, and went pass the large sliding doors to the room he had been in the other day. The room was just like before, except the regular staff of high ranking Sangheili and Unggoy had disappeared .The walls of the inner command center were painted a deep purple and blue, the fortifications had various ancient forerunner symbols on them, which all glowed a light blue.

In the center of the room stood Alzeke' Vaduamee on the platform, which held on it floating projections of all the Covenant ships that were with them. Alzeke's hands remained behind his back, clasped together with his head looking up. The gold Tzoku armor he wore shined bright and also held the forerunner symbol brightly on its back. The Tzoku made the Sangheili warrior look far bigger then a normal Sangheili, and combined with the fierceness of the wearer's eyes, it could intimate even the mightiest warriors.

Rtas noticed his father turn to face him, his body tilting slightly. Rtas bowed his head down slightly, his mandibles forming speech.

"Sacred Commander, I have come as requested. What is it you have for me?"

Alzeke moved closer, coming down from the barren platform to stand face to face with his only son.

"Rtas, you have done well lately you have risen through the lines of Sangheili at such a quick pace compared to others, and are already commanding small groups of lesser warriors. It is an honor to have you as my son."

Rtas beamed brightly. It was not often that his father complemented his skills such as this. But he knew there was something else coming.

Alzeke 'Vaduamee grabbed Rtas's shoulder tightly, and leaned forward slightly.

"Rtas, it is nearly time for you to achieve what is of great worth: your name."

Rtas tried to stay calm, but his eyes betrayed him. Names were of great worth in Sangheili culture, and only the worthy were named such as high ranking warriors and Flagships, Cruisers, in addition to Destroyers. For a Sangheili to attain ones full name was a great honor, bestowed upon a soldier who showed exceptional abilities.

"Father, I am greatly honored, but I am unaware of what qualifies me to obtain my full name. It is regularly given to high ranking officers. I am but a minor Sangheili."

The Ship Master chuckled, releasing his four fingered palm. The young minor had dreams of aspiring to the rank of Major, an officer who possessed experience in the fields of combat and could maneuver his warriors around the battlefield masterfully.

"Young Sangheili, soon you shall be sent on a dangerous mission into enemy territory, and then you shall be rewarded with a new higher rank should you succeed," Alzeke calmly walked to his station again, pressing several projecting buttons before continuing his sentence.

"The mission will require excellent skills, and infiltration tactics. It is rare that a warrior as young and inexperienced as yourself to obtain the rank of major so quickly, but you are my son and you shall prevail."

Rtas felt pride and acknowledgment from the veteran Ship Master, and held his head up as high as he could. He looked at the holograms displayed on the Ship Masters command center. It showed a large ship in space, obviously of human space craft design due to the metals it was constructed from. The ship itself looked like a smaller version of the human frigate, with strange words in human tongue written on the side of it. It was moving through space, completely oblivious to the danger that would come.

"After the boarding parties slaughtered the humans crew on their last ship, we recovered various star charts, must of which have been deciphered to show human worlds. Unfortunately, we still do not posses the location of their homeworld or important planets."

Alzeke paused for a moment entering more commands on the ships control system. A more detailed version of the small frigate appeared now, showing the ships schematics.

"As such, we still do not posses the data we require to eliminate these festering humans. Fortunately though, we have spotted a human frigate which appears to be an intelligence ship. Our pilots have identified that they have a holy artifact onboard, most likely what they found in the Harvest systems."

Another screen came up, revealing a bright blue object. Rtas had seen few of the gifts that had been left by the gods such as this. He was thrilled by it.

"We've decided to send in groups of Sangheili for an infiltration mission, to retrieve the sacred artifact and kill the humans onboard. It is also decided that they should try and recover more star charts from the ship."

As the Ship Master closed the windows Rtas spoke up in as deep of a voice as he could manage.

"This mission seems vital, am I worthy of going on it?"

"You shall not be leading it of course, but instead shall have the honor of tagging along and gaining valuable experience. With these tests you shall ascend to a higher honor in your role of the Covenant."

Rtas understood now that he was incredibly lucky to be on a mission such as this. He knew that it would be dangerous, that these humans were not completely defenseless. They were savages after all.

"There shall be a full platoon, two groups of Sangheili with Unggoy serving as cover fire. You shall be in group two, were Major Lieutenant Naku 'Malikzee shall be your commanding officer."

Naku 'Malikzee was the Sangheili in red Tzoku who had led the previous assault on the human's ship. Rtas was happy to have him lead the squad. Hopefully, the two teams would assure victory on whatever mission the Ship master sent them on.

As if summoned, the doors on each side of the room split open, revealing several Unggoy backed up by Sangheili. On one side stood a group of four Sangheili and six Unggoy along with Naku 'Malikzee leading them. The other door revealed a group of nine Unggoy and three Sangheili, one of which was the same rank as Naku 'Malikzee.

Naku 'Malikzee spoke up, his words smooth and graceful, as though he were addressing one of the Prophets.

"Sir, we have come as commanded. Are the preparations going accordingly for the mission?"

"Major Lieutenant, your concerns now are taking care of the sacred artifact aboard the human vessel, identified as "_Black Wasp_". You are to board it as well as take the holy artifact, in addition to killing all the humans in your path!"

The Ship master was greeted with the Sangheili roaring in approval, obviously encouraged by their leader's speech, his orders like music to their ears. The other Lieutenant Sangheili nodded, his mandibles clicking against themselves.

Rtas cheered with them, his fist up in the traditional Sangheili salutation. When the cheering silenced, Alzeke Vaduamee explained how they would get on the human ship, also how they would get out. Once he was done, Rtas fallowed Naku 'Malikzee past the hunting preserve dome, and into the armory, a large room with blue lighting which reflected itself off the Sangheilis armor. He noticed that the other team was their as well, their leader staying by Naku 'Malikzee.

"Soldiers, gather your desired weaponry. Be sure to have an extra weapon for if the first fails, you may rely on another. Also, stock up on grenades. Do it quickly, and then meet me at the section the Ship Master requested."

Naku 'Malikzee says this as he grabbed a brand new plasma rifle from one of the large purple crates in the room. He also picked up two plasma grenades in each hand and puts them to his belt, which is seen holding a plasma pistol in place. With that the Major walks through the sliding door, leaving Rtas and the others to pick up their weapons of choice.

Choosing the beloved plasma rifle, Rtas stocked up on seven plasma grenades and also picked up a needler for his secondary weapon. He had seen its devastating effects before, and would enjoy having the chance to test it out later. Once he had all the weapons and ammo he needed, Rtas followed several other Sangheili and Unggoy to were the two Lieutenants Majors had gone too, preparing for the deadly mission at hand.

Officer Brian Jorgenson put his hands behind his head, allowing himself to relax. He had been assigned to watch the scanners of the _Black Wasp's _for anything that might concern them.

_What a load of crock. _Brian didn't think there was ANYTHING that could concern them in this area of space. After all, they had previously left the harvest system after getting an ancient artifact of some kind, something that ONI wanted. The Officer couldn't care less, _the only thing out here is junk and garbage, _Brian thought as he drifted into a deep sleep. This is why no one noticed a large group of pods disguised as wreckage getting close to the small ONI ship, and the aliens that used plasma cutters to get inside the ship. Brian was always a lazy one.

The boarding parties secretly their way through the humans' armory, crouching and trying to silence the _click-clack_ of their boots. The Unggoy made quiet barking noises, which Rtas and the other Sangheili tried to keep under control.

As the two platoons made their way through the armory, they encountered several humans acting "casual". Rtas sneered, _Accursed savages. _He overheard a pair of them talking together, their weapons slung on their backs.

"Yeah, I hope they don't serve the same crap to us today. I swear that stuffs gonna kill me.

The other human nodded in agreement, scratching his head.

"Yep, those chiefs really need a new menu plan. But, anyway…did you hear about losing contact with Harvest? Our transmission just stopped out of nowhere."

The first human looked in surprise and raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"That is awkward, but I'm sure it's just a screw up on ONI's part with transmissions. We have nothing to worry about."\

The human sighed in relief and decided to continue chatting. The alien invaders had other plans.

The Group of Sangheili slit the throat of the first marine human and cracked the others neck before they knew what hit them. The Sangheili moved their bodies into the armory before making their way through the human's ship, scouting for the sacred artifact and silencing large amounts of humans before they could get help.

_It's almost too easy to dispel these humans, _mused Rtas as killed off another soldier. Of course they had not traveled far when they spotted a few Marines walking down the hall, their guns unslung and readied. They were getting suspicious as to why the soldiers here were off duty.

The Sangheili Major motioned Rtas and the others keep silent and hold position behind many of the human's crates and boxes. They were going to lure the humans their and kill them once they had their backs turned.

The two marines moved down the hall a little, and everything seemed to check out. Other then the red blood splatters on the ground.

"Jesus! What in the world-

The Sangheili ambushed the two marines with deadly speed. The first on managed to turn his head in time to see plasma burn through his armor and into his flesh. He fell with a loud _clunk _and rolled slightly, his eyes opened and lifeless. The other marine had turned as well, several plasma shots hitting him in the right arm. At first he was surprised and afraid of the alien invaders, but his combat training kicked in and he fired his M5B in a long burst, the bullets bouncing off the creatures shield seemingly harmlessly.

"Damn!"

The soldier raced through the halls, and jumped to activate the alarm, but his life was cut short as red needles sunk into the vulnerable parts in his armor and exploded, sending him flying into a wall.

The Sangheili Major Naku 'Malikzee laughed in a deep, guttural voice kicking the human bodies as he led his warriors further. They were making their way towards the humans command center of their ship, were they suspected the creatures kept their vital information.

Rtas followed his commander down another hall, until they reached an intersection. Right ahead of him stretched a wall with two openings, one leading to the right and one to the left.

Naku 'Malikzee give the signal to halt, the other Major stopping his own followers. Naku 'Malikzee spoke, his gray eyes focusing on all the Covenant soldiers in the room.

"Covenant soldiers, we will split our Platoon here and make our way to the command center of this ship, located in the front. One team will distract the humans while the other goes and captures the sacred artifact and human data. For the glory of the Covenant, do not fail!"

The units cheered quietly, not wishing to alert the humans to their presence. Naku 'Malikzee sent his team to take the left route, while the other unnamed Sangheili officer sent his forces down the right. They believed that the left side would be the quickest route to the humans command center.

The teams split up, and sprinted down the following hall, passed several human computers. Rtas then entered a room with large tables, and many humans who were stuffing their disgusting food into their mouth holes. Unfortunately, the humans all turned too stare at the alien presence, their eyes wide with shock.

"Aliens! Shoot'em!"

And just like that, over half the population of humans grabbed their close by fire arms and began shooting at the aliens. Rtas and the other Sangheili charged forward, screaming war cries at the humans and firing their plasma weapons. _I was starting to tire of sneaking around anyway._ Rtas rolled, narrowly dodging human fire and lifting over the human table to cover himself and some of his comrades who followed, occasionally looking out and fire super heated plasma at the humans.

The humans outnumbered the five Sangheili and six Unggoy by a three to one margin, but Rtas knew that they had the advantage.

"Holy flare!"

Rtas threw one of his plasma grenades at the humans who were clotted together, who simply looked at the glowing ball of light as it blew them off their feet.

This gave the Sangheili a chance to fire back without fear of instant retaliation. The Covenant cut down many human soldiers, including those that dropped their weapons and tried to escape. Rtas spotted a human grenade land nearby him, giving him the split second to escape.

"Grenade!"

Rtas rolled to the side, his shields taking the brunt of the explosion. A Sangheili nearby was sent flying, two Unggoy next to him soon followed.

Rtas witnessed a human rifle tear through a Sangheilis shield and blow half of his face off, resulting in a very messy wall. The humans had started fighting better now, working together to beat the near invincible warriors. Rtas was followed up by an Unggoy who held a needler weapon. Rtas pulled out his needler, and fired the plasma rifle and needle weapon simultaneously, which come out as a devastated effect.

The Unggoy to the side of him wore the red armor of a veteran, and fired his needler with great accuracy, backing the larger Sangheili up. It threw a plasma grenade, which in turn stuck to one of the humans.

"Shit, shit SHIT!"

The armored marine ran in a circle for a second, taking out many of his friends with him in the blue explosion. It seemed as though the Covenant were winning, their holy fire superior to the humans pathetic savagery, but Rtas noticed that the humans had sent off an alarm, and more of their races soldiers were arriving to back up the slowly retreating ones.

Naku 'Malikzee noticed this as well and commanded them to push forward, and get up close to the humans. After some minor struggle, the Covenant soldiers moved up, firing their weapons and sending some of the humans to their deaths. Rtas jumped and delivered a blow to the nearest human, which sent him toppling over.

_Aha, so Major Naku 'Malikzee_ _is having us move upwards to take the battle hand to hand, while having the remaining Unggoy back us up.  
_

Rtas blocked the attack of a human rifle bating into his skull, grabbing the weapon s though it was a mere toy and throwing it. He then pushed his large hoof into the nearest humans stomaching, sending it sprawling into the wall.

One of the marines moved his fingers similarly to a human commanded, shouting,

"Pull back, pull back! These things are too strong!"

Rtas tasted lead a moment later, as bullets pulled through his Tzoku and leather piecing his hard reptile flesh. He grabbed his stomach, head being pushed to the side by the blow. He yelled in pain as more human fire blew his arm to the side and nearly tore into his skull, was it not for his helmet.

Just when he thought he would be sent on the Great Journey prematurely, a Sangheili smacked the closet human, shattering his bones with a loud _CRACK._

Naku 'Malikzee laughed as the humans retreated to the safety of the other side of the ship.

"Pursue them, they will lead us to the holy artifact!"

The Sangheili raced after them before the doors shut, Unggoy sprinting to keep up. Rtas had counted the dead, two Sangheili and three Unggoy. That left them with three more Unggoy and three Sangheili including himself for this team. Not ad he thought considering that he estimated about sixteen dead humans.

The Major lead the way and they encountered more human resistance. Soon they had gone into a large room, with stairs leading up to another level in the human ship. Once they entered, human fire was directed their way, and Naku 'Malikzee ran up the stairs, backed up by his soldiers.

"Die vermin!"

Grabbing a human with both hands, he threw it down the stairs. Rtas fired his plasma rifle, but found that the needler was empty. Throwing it to the side regretfully, Rtas shot a human in the side, causing him to fall off the balcony he was on.

Their shields allowed them to inspire fear into the ranks of the humans, and give them a decisive edge against them. Naku 'Malikzee fired his plasma weapon as he ran towards the exit at the far end of the platform they were now standing on. Rtas followed up along with the other Sangheili and Unggoy.

Before reaching the door, the red armored Sangheili was nailed in the head by a sniper round. The force blew off his helmet, and his brains splattered to the ground, followed by his large body. Rtas was outraged that his commander had been killed here, and now their mission would become a lot harder.

"Take that you ugly son of a bitch!"

The human tried shooting Rtas as well, but missed due to the alien charging and now mere feet away. Rtas smashed the human's skull in with the back side of his rifle, the human crumpling under the strike. The remaining marines tried to escape, but were inevitably cut down by Covenant fire.

The remaining Sangheili and Unggoy cluttered around their commander's dead corpse, saying a light prayer before continuing. The mission had to be finished, no matter what. Since Rtas was the son of the Ship Master, and the second highest rank there, he took control of the soldiers.

He ushered them to move through the exit, ducking to avoid human fire. Another battle soon ensured, complete with grenades. Rtas had led through the area miraculously not losing another one of his soldiers. His joy was not long lived when a few humans blew an Unggoy to shreds with their rifles, but they were soon felled by the cleansing flames of the Sangheili.

Maneuvering through another room, Rtas believed that they were coming up upon the front of the ship. But now the humans realized they were under attack on the inside and were fighting back.

Rtas pushed the thought of them failing out of the way, as he led the strike further. He was now in a small room now; the door that surely led to the command center of the ship was now guarded by seven marines. Rtas ordered the remaining two Unggoy to throw their grenades at the humans.

The move proved successfully, taking out two unsuspecting marines and dividing the others up. Rtas and his group were now spotted by the left over five Marines, who each held an automatic rifle. Rtas did his best to instruct the Covenant soldiers to take out as many humans as they could.

"All soldiers destroy the human filth!"

Rtas watched as the Sangheili rained death upon the humans, their plasma rifles and needlers blazing. The humans fought back, but fear lurked near them, as the aliens moved closer, and took out another one of their men via exploding needles.

Rtas pushed forward, his shields drained by the human fire, bullets making their way through his flesh. But that would not be enough to stop him. He charged with a loud battle cry, Sangheili soldiers to the side of him as well. One of the Sangheili screamed as hid legs gave way from the bullets piercing them.

"Excruciating PAIN!"

Rtas noticed one of the Unggoy being hit by a burst and toppling down. Rtas screamed in anger, and was now close up to the humans, sending one of them flying with a fierce kick, and blasting another with a barrage of plasma in the face. They shrieked in pain and died.

The human soldiers were down to one mere marine, two killed by Rtas himself and the other killed by supportive needler fire. Rtas quickly counted one Unggoy and two other Sangheili not including himself.

Rtas tried to bash the humans face in, but his fist hit the wall as the human rolled out of the way and began firing at Rtas, whose shields had not yet recovered. The bullets broke through the armor, and continued on into his body.

Rtas roared in anger again, his mandibles parting. He did another lunge, this time landing it correctly. The human died instantly with a satisfying thunk to the ground. Rtas felt disgusted after smelling that the human had soiled himself, and decided to round up his warriors.

"I detect minimum human resistance in the next room, small movement is also apparent."

Rtas listened to the blue armored Sangheili besides him, learning if the room was dangerous. He thanked the forerunners for motion sensors.

After a moment of tactical thinking, Rtas gestured his soldiers to sneak up on the humans. Crouching, they went through the sliding door and into the humans control room. Inside were a group of humans at their controls, and at the end of the room was the "Ship Master".

"Shit."

The Admiral of the ONI's _Black Wasp _had been radioed in fifteen minutes earlier that the ship had somehow been infiltrated by these alien creatures, and that they were being overpowered. He had little time to think of what to do, since he wasn't sure a slip space travel would do them much good, and something like cutting off all air in the vessel wasn't what he had in mind. Of course, now that he saw the massive eight foot tall alien in front of him, any idea probably wouldn't be a bad one. He pulled out his pistol and fired three straight shots and the lead Sangheili, but the pistols blows were knocked aside due to a mysterious shield surrounding the beast.

The admiral then was hit in the chest with a volley of plasma, and felt for about seven seconds horrible pain before flopping over and dieing. The crew went with him, unable to defend themselves properly and in shock, they all died gruesomely.

Rtas walked over and began extracting the data aboard the human ONI vessel, and he then handed it to one of the Sangheili with him. After making sure he had downloaded all the files, Rtas checked the human Ship Masters corpse, and found a small, glowing crystal no bigger then his hand. This was what they had come for.

Rtas secured it to his belt, and shouted in his own language orders,

"Warriors, we must leave this human vessel and make our way to the humans docking station. Unggoy, call in team two."

The small Unggoy sniffed the air and began radioing in the other group of Covenant soldiers in. After a few seconds of static, Rtas heard the voice of the second Major.

"Group two, can you read me?"

"Yes Rtas, were is your commanding officer?"

Rtas paused for a moment, remembering Naku 'Malikzee.

"He was felled by a human sniper, but we managed to make it to the bridge of the ship. We now have the Sacred artifact and human data in our possession, and we are waiting to be picked up from this filthy hell hole."

Silence was heard on the other side of the COM channel for a moment, then the Sangheili could be heard on the other side.

"Alright, get to the humans docking bay. I am calling in a dropship to come and pick us up, it should be there soon. Many of my men are dead or wounded, so we will meet you there."

Rtas acknowledged this, and the COM channel turned off.

"Alright soldiers of the Covenant, lets get down to that bridge."

The remaining Covenant warriors followed p along side Rtas as they raced down the bridge, heading for the humans docking bay.

The Aliens had been in such a rush, that they had missed one cowering human who had hid under his desk. That human was Brian. With an unsatisfied grunt, Brian crawled out from under his desk. He was horrified by the death of the Admiral, but had to keep cool. He knew that the aliens would get away with the data, and after killing his crewmates it stated that they were not friends of the human race.

_Were the hell is the self destruction button on this damn thing? _Brian quickly moved up to the ships control center, and feverishly looked for a way to blow up the ship, since escape wasn't possible and they were all doomed. After a minute or so, he had found the controls for self destruction.

"Please enter password."

Brian smirked and said,

"Password."

"Welcome. Please enter commands for self destruct."

Brian typed in the commands the he had called up from his brain, and was relieved to hear that it was going well. Now all he had to do was push the button. And that's exactly what he did.

"Self destruct T-minus ten minutes. Have a nice day."

Brian laughed to himself at the computers little joke. He whished that he could override commands and make it more like ten seconds, but he had no idea how to. As he sat down at the ship, he went back to sleep. He would never have to wake up, after all.

Rtas had stormed through the bridge, killing various scattering humans as he passed by. Another door opened and he could see the human's ship bay below. Its at this time he heard the computers loud voice tell them they had ten minutes until this ship exploded .

"By the gods…"

Rtas and his following soldiers moved down the bay, shooting down several humans on their way. He hoped the drop ship got there soon, or else the sacred artifact and data would be destroyed, and they were the top priority.

Rtas decided it was a good thing there were only a few humans here, and none were armed. He wasn't completely sure he could succeed against another large batch of humans with the forces he had, and ammunition was also running low.

Before Rtas could do anything else, a large human vehicle came into his site. It was large, and their were three humans in it, one operating its systems, one in the side, and a final in a large turret which was located at the back of the vehicle. The vehicle was an ugly green color, and looked like it had tusks. Rtas rolled out of the way to one side, his comrades following his example. The vehicle missed them, but turned around to try again. The Unggoy ran and ducked to one side while the three remaining Sangheili dodged out of its way again and began retaliating with their plasma rifles.

The plasma tore into the vehicle, slowing it a bit but not enough for it to charge at them again, and this time the marine in the turret was shooting at them with a turret. Most of the bullets missed and hit the metallic floor, but Rtas saw that the gun had not only overwhelming attack force with its large bullets, but also had a very large supply of ammo.

"Warriors, surround the vehicle!"

Rtas shouted orders as he crouched to avoid the bullets. This was becoming strenuous, and he didn't know how soon the drop ship would be here, or were the second squad was. All he could do was dodge and try to return fire against the vehicle. He also had to worry about the self destruction sequence on the human ship.

Rtas radioed in the second group, crouching low as the vehicle passed him.

"Second squad, this is Rtas. We are under heavy fire by some sort of human vehicle, and the humans have activated a self destruct system! We need evac of this ship immediately!"

Rtas's words went through the COM channel, and he could make out the Sangheili Officer on the other side.

"Rtas, we have met some human resistance as well. Hold your position and do your best to deal with that vehicle, the drop ship should be arriving soon! We will try and get down there as soon as possible. May the forerunners be with you."

The COM channel ended there as the hog slammed into one of the Sangheili, crushing him against a wall. The Covenant warrior's shields appeared and faded, and purple blood hit the vehicles screen.

Rtas could see his brethren struggling to push back the "Warthog" but he was slowly being crushed. The two Sangheili rushed and began firing at the marine in the turret, hitting him in the shoulder, but not causing serious damage.

As this happened, the Unggoy known as Kemeph had radioed in the Destroyer _Prophecy _for help, realizing that this human vehicle would be able to kill them all. Kemeph cowered and kept his head down as the Sangheili charged and rolled to dodge the chain guns fire.

The Sangheili was starting to get his armor plating crushed, and couldn't hold on much longer. Rtas and the Sangheili closest to him both maintained fire on the human gunner, shooting off pieces of its armor before the plasma burned into his flesh. The marine gunner turned his direction to the two Sangheili and opened heavy fire on them. Rtas felt a few bullets make contact with his shield, but by crouching he had avoided most of the attack.

The Sangheili holding the human data tried rolling, but his shields were cut down, and the chain gun shredded through him, sending purple blood all over the area. The Sangheili fell to Rtas's dismay, the data of human information falling with him and breaking into pieces.

Rtas threw a grenade onto the human in the gunner's seat, who tried to get out.

"AH! GET IT OFF! GET IT-"

But the human was too late; he exploded in a gory mess, sending the human Warthog flying into the air. It fell down near the human carcasses, the vehicle now shattered into several hundred pieces.

Rtas was blissful when he saw that the Sangheili who was trapped by the human vehicle had not been killed, just badly injured. Rtas made his way to the broken data files, and said a prayer as he did for his previous commander.

**_Though you leave this world,_**

_**You will come on the Great Journey when the time comes…**_

Rtas then moved down to his wounded comrade with great urgency. He got on his knees to eye level with the laying warrior.

"Sangheili, can you walk?"

The Sangheili lifted his long head and spurted out blood from his mouth, careful to turn his head so that it didn't get into Rtas's face.

"No brother, I cannot. I feel as though most of my bones were shattered from the impact of the human vehicle. Forgive me for not being more careful…"

Rtas picked the warrior up and carefully slung him over his shoulder, pushing his tiredness out of the way. He took several steps down the bay, followed closely by Kemeph.

"It will be all right. You shall return with me to the drop ship, were going to leave this place."

Rtas made several more steps down to were he suspected the large U shaped drop ship would come by, when a large piece of the ship fell and nearly hit him.

The ship was beginning to fail now, fire sparked from numerous parts in the ship and several pieces were falling off.

"One minute till final detonation."

Rtas sprinted in anger towards the end of the bay. He was rewarded with the site of a large drop ship appearing out of the black of space and moving in towards him. It parked in and the side opened, revealing a single blue armored Sangheili.

"Rtas, get all the survivors in! This ship looks like it will implode at any second!"

Rtas moved in and put his comrade inside the ship, strapping him in, as well as letting the Unggoy get in. Rtas remembered squad two now, and how they were not there.

"Wait, I need to radio in the first squad!"

The blue armored Sangheili besides Rtas had doubt in his eyes, and after a moment he nodded reluctantly. Rtas quickly called in the other Officer, but got only large amounts of static.

"Team one, Team one! Do you read me?"

Rtas received nothing but static and sighed regretfully. He started getting into the ship, when he spotted the human doors opening revealing the red Major and what was left of his team. Surrounding him were four Unggoy and one Sangheili. They looked tired.

Rtas yelled to them, and told the pilot to wait. The remains of first team sprinted towards the ship, but as they were only sixteen feet away, a large piece of human metal fell in front of them, blocking them off from escape.

Rtas yelled in fury, preparing to break through the metal and get to the other Sangheili and Unggoy.

"Thirty seconds until final detonation."

As Rtas reached out, he heard the other Majors voice.

"Go on without us, for the sake of the Holy journey, now GO!"

Rtas prayed for them, and ran into the drop ship. It reared out, and into space. They were going at dangerous speeds for a drop ship, trying to get out of the explosion radius. Rtas also noticed that the _Prophecy_ had arrived near them.

And then the human's ship exploded in a fiery ball of metal, its debris hitting the drop ship. The force of the debris was too strong, and Rtas become aware of the oxygen leaking in the room. Rtas could feel himself getting light headed, his exhaustion taking affect, his comrades already on the floor knocked out. He hoped that the pilot had enough Oxygen to get into the destroyer, and that he would survive. He felt the sacred artifact on his belt and held on to it._ Must. Get the sacred artifact…to the Ship Master…_

Rtas slipped into sweet unconsciousness, collapsed onto the floor, gripping the forerunner artifact. Out side the drop ship debris flew to the sides, they had just made it from being destroyed. The pilot drove the ship into the destroyer, and landed.

**TO BE COUNTINUED-**

**A/N _Hooray, my longest chapter yet! I hope you all enjoyed it. It took me a while to write, and I kind of skimped on editing, but I think it's pretty good. I FINALLY read the Halo Graphic novel about 30 times over when I was around half way through this chapter. It was the best! I loved how Rtas lost his mandibles, and I can't wait until I get to that part in my story. I refuse to spoil anything, but you should really check it out. Not only for Rtas goodness, but all the other great stuff! Anyway, please review! It does help me out, and I love my ego to be stroked Next chapter next Friday!_**


	5. Chapter 4 Regret and Redemption

**Warning: If you copy/plagiarize any part of my story, you will be prosecuted to the maximum legal extent. If I can't really do anything to you legally, I'll just flame you and/or report you, unless it was honestly a coincidence. Enjoy!**

Disclaimer: None of the characters from Halo, Halo 2, or the Halo books are mine. Klasz Hakamamee (the name) belongs to Mr. Xiran and the character itself belongs to Bungie and Microsoft. Yes, he let me use the character, so don't flame me.

**_A/N Okay, I am VERY sorry for not getting this chapter up last week, I was really busy with school stuff, and couldn't even really get to my Computer --. Also, a warning that this chapter doesn't continue much action, sorry. I promise the following Chapters to have action in them. Anyway, Enjoy Half-Jaw goodness! P.S Didn't have much time to edit, rushed this one p_**

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**Rtas' Vadumee: Rise of a Recruit**

**Chapter 4**

_**Regret and Redemption**_

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The room was blurry, and Rtas could feel an excruciating head ache already starting in. He felt as though he was being carried, moreover his bones felt weak, too weak to lift his head even. The young Sangheili warrior forced his eyes to open fully, revealing to him that he was being carried by two Sangheili as well as revealing that he was in the medical room of the _Prophecy. _

"Ugh…" Rtas moaned again, and the two Sangheili carrying him turned their long elongated heads towards him.

"He is awaking, should we lie him down here?"

The Sangheili gestured with his head to a large table-like structure.

"Yes, alert the Ship Master that minor Rtas awakens. I will take care of his wounds."

With that, Rtas felt himself being placed on the large table, and heard the sliding noise of the door. With that, Rtas managed to turn his head at the medical Sangheili. Medics were rare in the Sangheili ranks, usually placed upon those who could not fight, but excelled in other subjects. They usually wore a greenish armor, sometimes lighter blue. This one had taken up the Tzoku of green, and it shined brilliantly.

Rtas noticed the dents and holes in his own dark blue armor, and the battle scars bestowed upon it.

"Medic…was the mission…a success?"

Rtas felt blood oozing from his wounds, and almost passed out again. The medic reverted her attention towards Rtas, and held a long needle like object.

"Stay still, your injury is far too sever for you to be moving."

Rtas agreed with the female medical Sangheili, he couldn't even move his arms and legs, and his neck felt sore.

"As for your mission, I am unsure. We received the holy artifact that you carried, and the other survivors are being held elsewhere, their wounds less brutal then your own."

Rtas remembered the shining crystal artifact he had held on to so dearly, but most else was a blur. He recalled the human ship exploding and its wreckage being flown everywhere, but could not follow what happened after that.

"Thank you, it is reliving to know that my comrades survived. I must see the Ship Master, for I am the highest ranking survivor."

That was correct; he had a glimpse in his memory of the other squad and Naku Malikzee. He felt pain in his chest for their deaths, but cast it aside and sought assurance in the holy verses. At least they had retrieved the holy artifact….

…_Oh no. The human data!_

Rtas shot up, pain echoing through his whole body. The medic seemed shocked and went beside Rtas, ushering him to lie back down. Rtas pulled energy from an unknown source and pushed the medic away with a light touch.

"Please Sangheili minor, you must rest."

"No, I need to speak with the Ship Master NOW."

Rtas got on his feet, and promptly fell down onto the hard blue floor. Rtas didn't even have time to think before he lost consciousness again. What a day.

The Ship Master of the _Prophecy_ paced below his command station. He had just received news that his son Rtas had survived and brought with him the holy artifact, the shining crystal that he now hanged from his belt.

The Ship Master sighed, and walked up to his command station. He recounted the dead of the mission, and was distressed by the news.

_Almost a full platoon gone, just for these sniveling aliens…_

The Ship Master called up the holograms and proceeded to mark out the dead. It was heavily unfortunately that he had not only lost Naku Malikzee, but the other Veteran Sangheili as well. So many warriors and even a few ships taken out by the self destructing frigate.

He slammed his fist on the control systems in frustration, cursing in his own tongue at the misfortune. He instantly regained his composure and relaxed. They would all meet again on The Great Journey, and he didn't have the time to think of this. The mission had failed in many ways, and now he had to deal with it.

Sure the teams had managed to acquire the holy artifact, but it was only half the mission. The human data that would hopefully reveal the Ark to them was destroyed in the invasion by human fire, so the report said. Now their best opportunity was gone like the wind, and all they had to show for their sacrifice was the small shining rock…

Worst yet, Rtas now would have to bare the dishonor of failure on his shoulders. Sighing, the Master of the Ship went to controls and sent a well in scripted message to the Prophet of Truth, Mercy, and Regret in detail of the latest events and the actions taken on the human vermin.

Alzeke' Vaduamee also called in a messenger from the bridge of the ship. He needed to inform the minor Prophet aboard of the incident, as well as arrange the creature's safe return to the mother ship of the Covenant, _High Charity…._

Rtas awoke for the second time that day, and was relived to find that the unbearable head ache had passed along with the constant blood loss he seemed to be getting. The Sangheili soldier also noticed that his Tzoku blue battle armor had been removed, and was on a large metallic desk just off to the side of him.

Removing the blankets that had been laid on him, Rtas got back on his feet and suited himself back up. He had no idea how long he had slept, but it was best to get back in his gear and make an appearance with his father to get things straightened out. A slight stabbing pain echoed through the Sangheilis bones, but the warrior pushed it past him and put on his helmet.

Checking the room for any sign of life, Rtas moved out through the sliding doors and down the halls. He was familiar with the whole ship as standard protocol, and he knew he wasn't far from the Ship Masters station. It wasn't easy getting an appearance with such a holy warrior and in fact impossible unless one was a veteran of sorts or had some type of connection. Rtas was of course the latter.

After a brief walk past several on board soldiers Rtas had made it to the grav lift. Pressing in the command codes with his long alien fingers, Rtas could feel the strange vibrations that happened when the gravity lift began. Moving up, Rtas took the time to think.

_What is to befall me? The human data was lost, and now their location will be kept silent until the next opportunity._

Rtas had seen what happened to a Sangheili who failed at a task, and it was not pretty. There would be great dishonor, followed by punishment which ranged from scars to death. It was rare that the Sangheili would get off without a hitch, if they got off at all.

Rtas didn't have any further time to ponder this as he reached the top of the gravity lift and was greeted by the familiar group of guards. A few peered at him and contemplated his situation before returning to their duty.

"I must speak with the Ship Master, it is urgent."

"No one is to see the Ship Master now; he is in communication with High charity. You will have to wait until called upon."

Rtas let his head go down slightly, but fully understood the situation. Moving back to the gravity lift, he decided to make his way to the station that was assigned to him before seeking nourishment. As his large hoofs hit the ground with a _clacking _sound, Rtas heard the door behind him slid open with a familiar beeping.

"Rtas, I was just about to get to you. Come."

Turning, Rtas saw the Golden armored Ship Master, standing tall. Rtas bowed his head deeply in respect to the nod of his father, and followed into the command center. The inside was empty, and the holographic images that were displayed normally had disappeared completely.

Turning swiftly, Alzeke Vaduamee addressed Rtas formally.

"Rtas, I am glad to see you survived the mission, though I wish I could say the same for your commanding officer and the others."

Rtas noted Regret in his fathers' voice, feeling the same pain for his soldiers.

"None the less, we must continue as usual. You managed to bring back one of the sacred artifacts left by the forerunners to us, and that the Covenant is grateful for."

There was a dramatic pause before continuing, and Rtas could feel a ping of suspense.

"But you failed to take the star charts that could lead us to the Ark, or other worlds containing these sanctified relics. Since you were not in control of the squads, you will be spared the maximum punishment. The retrieval of the artifact also lessens the blow, but you still have failed."

Rtas raised his head up to his superior, his green eyes filled with sadness.

"Forgive me, O' holy Ship Master. The death of my comrades' weighs down on me, and knowing I have failed the Covenant brings me down more. I am fully prepared for whatever the Covenant plans for me."

The Ship Master revealed no emotion, and just stared into the younger inexperienced soldiers eyes with a deep contempt. Alzeke Vaduamee felt his own shame, at the failure of the mission. He couldn't bare the loss of his soldiers, and failure did not lessen any of the hardship.

"Rtas, you are a good soldier, and equally a good son; but your failure on the human's ship has brought you to punishment."

Rtas could only imagine what would befall him; the Covenant was not soft on those who were priced with failure. The Artifact would indeed help, but without information to the whereabouts of the Ark, the Covenant was at loss. And since he was the only surviving commanding officer, he would be the one at blame. Perhaps the Ship Master would spare him and end his life there?

The golden armored Sangheili kept eye level with Rtas, eyes intent and fierce.

"I've decided to be lenient, however. You may yet get a chance to redeem yourself and continue your career."

Rtas' head went up further, and puzzlement was clearly seen on his face. Redemption? It was what all who failed surely sought, but rarely were rewarded.

"The artifact you returned may yet be the key to the puzzle, and in many ways you have spared yourself by taking it. The relic must be taken to the Prophet of Truth on High Charity, so the minor Prophet of this ship shall be escorted their whilst my soldiers continue to search this area of space for any more humans. You and the survivors shall be helping escort the minor Prophet to High Charity."

Rtas felt a glimmer of hope build inside of him. If he could assure safe passage for the artifact to Truth, the incident might be forgiven. The idea was thrilling.

"My holy commander, I will make sure that the sacred icon gets to the Prophet's of High Charity, no matter what the cost."

Alzeke Vaduamee was proud of his son, and grateful to the forerunners for blessing him with another chance. The minor prophet had argued about Rtas being given a second chance, but Alzeke had INSISTED that he and the other survivors were given the opportunity to redeem themselves.

"Good Rtas, see to it that the artifact gets to the Prophets with due haste. The reason that were sending you and the other survivors of the human ship is because the ship the minor Prophet is taken has little crew, most of which are Unggoy. They need as many Sangheili there as possible. Besides, you have gained vital combat experience from the encounter with the humans."

Rtas tried to keep from raising his head to high, letting the praise sink in a bit.

"The Minor Prophet is leaving in the next fifteen units, see that you make it to the docking stations and get on board. The others are already there, so I suggest you hurry."

Rtas got back on his feet and put his fist to his chest, an age old tradition for "promise" or "victory" in Sangheili culture. Rtas now understood, and he calmly strode to the Gravity lift and then raced to the docking bay, nearly smashing into several Engineers along the way.

The minor Prophet, also known as Emissary of light, hovered in his large floating chair otherwise known as the imperial dais. The rodent like creature was covered in long black robes, making only his hands and face visible. He wore no hat, only high Prophets could wear those. The Emissary allowed himself to relax as he was crowded by legions of Sangheili soldiers just below his ship, watching him leave.

_Humph, pathetic fools. They no nothing of the Great Journey, there ignorance pains me. Oh well, they serve their purpose.  
_

The minor Prophet was just about to get into his ship when he saw the familiar blue armored Sangheili. Normally, all Sangheili, and all the other races for that matter, looked exactly the same to him. This ones battle armor showed dents and scratches, and he bared a strong resemblance to the Ship Master of the _Prophecy._

The Sangheili made his way to the docking system, many Sangheili and Unggoy allowing him to pass. Bowing on one knee, he addressed the Minor Prophet, causing the robed figure to turn and face him.

"Holy one, I have been sent here by the might Ship Master on orders to help escort you to High Charity. I am known as Rtas, and I shall now serve you."

_Great, another Covenant Zealot Sangheili. Yes, this must be Rtas, son of the Ship Master. He was really just an annoyance, but no matter._

"Excellent, get on board Rtas. The Covenant thanks you for your hard work and sacrifice."

The Emissary held up the small glowing artifact, to which the Sangheili and Unggoy in the large docking bay cheered.

Rtas strode and straightened, going through the large ships sliding doors, and he was soon followed by the minor Prophet. The rooms inside were very similar to the Destroyers they were just in, perhaps more…_elegant._

Rtas followed the Minor Prophet through many halls, and met up with the surviving Sangheili from the last mission.

"Rtas, I owe my life to you. Forgive me for not giving my name earlier, it is Dai', son of Kerian 'Qurzee."

"I am happy to hear that Dai', but your thanks is not needed. You serve the Covenant as I do, you surely would have done the same thing."

Dai's mandibles formed in what would be a smile, and he hit his chest. Rtas led the way further into the ship, eventually going into his command station. Here he could observe the ship, and its inhabitants. He noticed the lack of Sangheilis, in fact, ninety percent of the entire ship was comprised of Unggoy. Interesting.

Dai' stood behind Rtas, seeing him as the superior commanding officer there. Rtas could not see why he deserved such an honor; he had failed half of the mission. Allowing his thoughts to wonder, he began to wonder of the significance of the holy artifacts of the forerunners and what the humans were doing with them?

_Perhaps the humans are in some way connected to the forerunners? What in the gods could this mean? And exactly what are these artifacts for? _

Rtas pondered these thoughts for what seemed like hours, sub consciously checking on the ships crew. Passing by several Unggoy, they immediately straightened up and began to work harder and faster, not wishing to look lazy in front of the Sangheili.

Indeed, the crew seemed to respect him, perhaps not just because of being a Sangheili and son of Alzeke Vaduamee, but because of the battle damage on his armor and his newfound experience?

Rtas allowed these and more thoughts invade his weary mind. Soon the topic switched, and he regarded about the artifacts religious importance. To sacrifice so many lives just for a small shining jewel, was that not stupidity?

Rtas shook his head and found sanctuary in the Covenants bible, and its vast quotes and oaths. He remembered that he should not question the high arcs; under no law could he become like a heretic and question them and the forerunners.

The ship had gone into slip space, and would be arriving at High Charity soon. Kemeph waddled around with his fellow Unggoy, as they gossiped and asked him about the new freighting enemy, the Humans.

"They walk like the Sangheili, and wield large metallic weapons that shoot out red hot fire, faster then our own weapons. They wear large metal armor, and are absolutely ugly."

Kemeph tried to make his story sound as magical as possible, keeping the others interested.

"Tell us about the large "Warthog" again!" squeaked another nearby Unggoy in excitement.

"Very well. The Human vehicle was large, like a massive beast on four legs! It made incredibly loud droning noises, and the Humans sat in it and shot at us. The massive gun on the back riddled the Sangheili with bullets before it finally was destroyed by a grenade."

The Unggoy listening to Kemeph made loud "Ooohs" and "ahhhs", reliving Kemeph of boredom. He still felt a great loss, with his friend's death, but in the Covenant Unggoy's usually didn't live to be at the age of fifteen.

The Unggoy quieted down as soon as they were passed by the towering Sangheili in blue battle damaged armor, the dents and scratches in his Tzoku made him even more fierce and terrifying then he normally was. As scary as these disgusting humans were, Kemeph knew that he'd rather meet them in a dark ally then a Sangheili.

Rtas felt the ship coming of out slip space, and was satisfied to see High Charity and its brilliance, the massive mother-ship crowded by Banshees and other ships including Destroyers and Flag ships.

"We will be docking in ten minutes. Be ready to leave."

The loud Inter com wasn't too helpful to Rtas, but he figured that getting him and the other Sangheili ready to leave wasn't too bad of an idea.

_**To be continued……**_

_**A/N Again, sorry for this being rather late . As well as not having any action to boot! I suck when I don't get into action scenes -- Anyway, I promise that I will do my best to get the next chapter up and running A.S.A.P, hopefully ext Thursday/Friday. It will be leading up to some fierce action, and getting more involved with THE FALL OF REACH plot. Be sure to comment, it lets me know I have people who care for my Story p**_

_**Next Chapter-Thursday/Friday**_


	6. Chapter 5 Things Aren't What They Seen

**Warning: If you copy/plagiarize any part of my story, you will be prosecuted to the maximum legal extent. If I can't really do anything to you legally, I'll just flame you and/or report you, unless it was honestly a coincidence. Enjoy!**

Disclaimer: None of the characters from Halo, Halo 2, or the Halo books are mine. Klasz Hakamamee (the name) belongs to Mr. Xiran and the character itself belongs to Bungie and Microsoft. Yes, he let me use the character, so don't flame me.

**_A/N Here it is! Just in time, 15 minutes till Saturday! That was close….Anyway, I feel overjoyed that people like my story and actually cares if it is finished or not. I really do my best to please not only myself, but all those who view. I always thought I wasn't that good, but you've inspired me to get better. Thanks you guys! Now, sit back and relax for Chapter 5!_**

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**Rtas' Vadumee: Rise of a Recruit**

**Chapter 5**

_**Things Aren't What They Seem**_

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Rtas stepped out of the large Covenant ship, onto the large ceremonial floor beneath him. Ahead of him stood hundreds of lined up Honor Guards, the most sacred of Warriors who up took the armor of old. They stood at rigid attention, fully prepared and in a stern stance. They had been chosen at birth for their duty, and trained from an age far earlier then a normal Sangheili.

The large purple and blue colored walls decorated the room, at the far end of the hall was an enormous door that would lead to the Prophets. Rtas was sure to carefully position himself behind the Minor Prophet, along with the other Sangheili. The Unggoy stood further behind, trailing across the large mother ship that they now called home. Rtas felt bad for not only himself, but the Unggoy who had not even seen their icy homeworld.

Walking down the long hall, Rtas kept his head up high, and was careful to avoid eye contact with the guards of the Prophets. It felt good to be back here, the place were Sangheili first went for initiation into the Covenant, or for sever punishment. His brought up the thought of his previous failures, but the Minor Prophet had made it here with no troubles, perhaps he would be forgiven.

As the Minor Prophet hovered in its large portable chair, Rtas spared a glance to Dai' which rewarded him with a smile from his ally's four pronged jaw. Dai' was a young warrior like himself, who had proven to be a good soldier and a reliable one at that. It was rare that the young commander managed to stay in contact for too long with the same soldiers, as lower commands were almost constantly switched around to were the Covenant most needed them. Of course, that changed once a Sangheili become the rank of Major or was permanently accepted into a squad.

_Oh, what a beautiful scent. The scent of High Charity, were the highest soldiers were posted to defend the Prophets. What did he do to deserve such beauty?_

Rtas admired the room, but was brought back to reality once he heard the door's sliding noise, and saw the Prophet float and bob as he made his way through it. Behind the room revealed a large Gravity lift, which connected in three ways and leading to a total of three different rooms. Stepping onto the gravity lift, Rtas felt the familiar feeling in his abdomen as it went down, revealing to the party of warriors one larger door, defended by more Honor Guards.

The Honor Guards held the staff of the Sangheili, which their ancestors wielded back in the old days before the Forerunners. As soon as the Minor Prophet came by, their attention immediately went to him. The Emissary of light held a hand up, causing the Sangheili guards to lift their spears, paving the path.

The sliding door opened, and Rtas followed the Minor Prophet in. He and four other Sangheili went through, but the guards slid their spears into an "X" formation, halting the remaining Sangheili and Unggoy. The door slid behind them, and the Emissary went on his business further into a large room filled with more Honor guards, and at the center floated Truth and Mercy in the same chairs as the Minor Prophet.

Rtas looked back at the sliding door, but returned to walking. Passing by several more Honor Guards, he looked upon the Prophets of Truth and Mercy, their robes and crowns shone brightly to their magnificence, making them seem like Gods before Rtas. He kneeled with his fellow comrades, the minor Prophet doing a slight bow and moving to the High Prophets of the Covenant.

"Noble Prophets of Truth and Mercy, I have brought before you the sacred artifact recovered from the vermin race of Humans."

The Minor Prophet took from his gravity belt the shining crystal no bigger then its thin palm, and handed it to Truth.

Truth took the crystal, not looking very surprised, or really any other emotion other then perhaps light contempt.

"Is this all?" Truth's voice seemed questioning, and somewhat annoyed. Rtas felt a slight stab of disappointment. They had lost many lives for that shard, and the High Prophet didn't even seem to care.

"Yes, Truth. I am afraid that is all."

Truth inspected the crystal, and put it somewhere deep in his robes before facing the minor prophet again.

"I suppose that it will be enough. "

Truth floated further up to a wall behind him, covered in ancient Covenant history. Rtas felt sweat drip from his armor. Is it possible that they would punish him here and now, and recall the human data that was lost?

After a few glances, Truth turned and spoke.

"Alright Emissary of light, you shall be well rewarded for bringing this prize. Have the Sangheili troops below you promoted, and then return to your regular duties. Now leave us."

Truth turned and waved for them to leave. Rtas got on his large hooves and sat up straight, following the Emissary of light out, his fellow troops next to him. Rtas was glad to hear about possible promotions, and now was also relived that punishment was not in question. It still puzzled him about the artifact, but he decided to leave the matter to the higher arcs.

Leaving the room, Rtas was greeted with the rest of the group, who had been waiting there for the past twelve minutes. They went back up the gravity lift, and the young Sangheili decided to risk a few questions with the minor Prophet.

"Emissary of light, will we be returning to out previous posts and gain field promotions?"

The minor Prophet did not turn, speaking in a low tone.

"Yes, once we return to the ship I will radio the Ship Master of your current position and allow him to decide these matters. For now, let us just return to our ship."

Rtas left it at that, and followed the minor Prophet silently.

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Truth ordered the Honor Guards to leave for their break and leave him and Mercy alone in the large ceremonial room shortly after dismissing the Minor Prophet. The Sangheili warriors were puzzled by this, but loyally left them to their wishes.

As the Honor Guards left the room through the large sliding doors, Mercy moved his chair closer to Truth.

"Could this be the piece needed, the one we've been searching for all these years?"

Mercy's voice held hope in it, as though the old Prophet had a chance of finding something long lost. Truth turned his head to check if the Sangheili had left the room, his head piece bobbing slightly. Nodding to Mercy, he floated to the inscriptions on the wall.

"Yes Mercy, this could possibly be the next piece of the puzzle. The shard that may lead us, to the Sacred Rings."

Truth couldn't keep excitement from leaking out of his voice. The Sangheili may have actually found the shard that would lead them to Halo. All he needed to do now was test the theory.

"First, we must see if this is the correct one. I have an idea, we shall send of the minor Prophet and whatever forces he has to find the Ring. Chances are, that the will reach an uncharted area in space, enter a black hole, or find the Rings."

Mercy tugged at his beard and nodded in agreement. Indeed, it was a better idea to send that group. After all, it wasn't much to lose and everything to gain.

"Alright, should we alert the council to the existence of the shard?" Mercy questioned hovering closer to Truth.

"No, not until we know that it's the Ring world. For now, let us keep this to ourselves…"

Truth turned back and called in the Honor guards with the touch of a button on his hovering chair. Regret was not here, off doing some errands. No matter. If this was the Ring, he could finally put his own plans into action. He wondered for a moment if the Brutes would be better suited for the tasks, looking from one Sangheili Guard to the next with equal contempt.

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Rtas now stood back in the ship with his crew mates, not satisfied with their brief visit. He decided to be thankful that he wasn't executed, and instead was to be promoted. The clacking of his boots on the bridge of the ships bridge deck signaled his coming, and he overheard the Minor Prophet speaking with an Honor Guard.

"Us? Shouldn't you send someone else? More capable?"

The first voice was the Minor Prophet, surprise was apparent in his raspy voice.

"Yes, it has been commanded by the hierarchs. Take the fragment, and find the Ring world. We will be here for you to radio us in, if anything happens."

The other's voice was loud and gruff, belonging to a Sangheili. Rtas identified is as an Honor Guard, and listened as the Sangheili left through the sliding doors.

Rtas ducked away as the Minor Prophet left the room, barley avoiding him. After the Prophet had gone, Rtas went to find Dai' and the Unggoy under his command. Moving through the large corridors lit with blue lights. Soon, after passing many staffed Unggoy, Rtas found Dai' giving out the orders Rtas had told him to. The Unggoy were working hard to get the ship moving, lower Sangheili checking up to see if everything was operational.

Dai; turned to see Rtas and held his hand up high in greeting.

"Officer Rtas, it is good to see you brother. The ship is near ready for take off, apparently we have a new destination."

Rtas raised his hand as well, stepping closer to the Sangheili minor.

"Yes, I have heard. We seem to be using the sacred artifact to get to this unknown destination. I believe it may be to…the sacred Rings."

Dai's brown eyes lightened up at the mention of the Sacred Rings. His voice went to a whisper, and he spoke softly to Rtas.

"Brother, is this true?"

"It is. We will be leaving soon from the looks of it. Now get to your station."

As if summoned by the young Sangheili officers words, the inter com sprouted alien words, revealing for everyone to get to their stations.

Rtas rushed to his station in front of the ship, standing at station, and then getting into position for slip-space. Soon, High Charity was out of site again.

Slip-space was different this time. Rtas noticed on the star chart that they were going to parts unknown, but dared not to speak about it to the Minor Prophet. The duration of slip space was of course regular at first, but it was going much faster then the normal high speeds. Rtas was almost worried, but said a quick prayer and relaxed.

Covenant ships already were gifted by the gods, going at high speeds through space and ending up at their destination in little time. Rtas felt the sudden lunge of the ship coming into normal space, showing a nearby planet with two suns and a moon orbiting it. What Rtas saw on the scanner shocked him.

By the planet was a human a Battle ship, UNSC marked on the side. It was large, painted the same dull color of the other human ships Rtas had encountered before, and it was far larger then the Pillar of Autumn. The ship was a box shape to Rtas, with big wing like segments coming off the bottom and downwards. It had enormous cylindrical propulsion systems on the back side of the massive hulk of the Fenrir class battleship.

The images of the ship appeared on Covenant screens, their ship being a Cruiser class one. The Minor Prophet shouted out in anger.

"Humans! They defile us with their presence, eradicate them!"

The Sangheili pilots onboard quickly sent a message, similar to what Alzeke' Vaduamee had done, to the human Battleship. It was translated as;

**_Your Destruction Is The Will Of The Gods._**

And we are their instrument.

Rtas ordered the Sangheili below him to open fire with their plasma turrets, the heated bolts hitting the unsuspecting humans' ship with a large volley. The crew remained focused, although amused at the human's weakness. They were filth that needed to be cleaned and swept from the face of the universe after all, what could their pathetic ships do?

The humans pathetic Battleship retaliated quickly with their turrets, prototype MAC guns hitting the Covenant's shields and damaging them. The human ship and Covenant cruiser fought fiercely in space, the small human planet below watching the fire works.

The Covenant crew onboard gasped at the power of the human weapons, powerful enough to damage their shields. These humans actually knew what they were dealing with, and were doing everything in their power to take the Covenant ship out. None the less, Rtas kept his composer and reminded himself of the Gods and their gift.

The Covenant Cruiser blasted their plasma off again, this time a round nailing the human Battleships engines and blowing them off, debris scattering everywhere. Fire and pieces of metal scattered across the area, blinding them for a moment.

More shots were fired, and the humans blew through part of the energy shields, allowing random missiles to make their way in and puncture small holes into the haul.

The Minor Prophet barked out orders to the crew, the Covenant pilots aiming and blasting at the human ship, their Cruiser getting closer. Rtas felt the tension in the air, and he decided to watch the battle from the large screen. He looked just in time to see another part of the humans vessel blow apart by the Covenants next volley.

Aboard the Fenrir stood the Spartan soldier 717, name: Joseph. He had heard of the Covenant before, but this was his first time ever seeing one of their ships, which was massive and elongated with a silvery shine to it. Avery had seen it deliver the first punch with its plasma rounds, and he decided that they had to finish it. Now racing through a corridor in the launching zone, he had to get to the Admiral Ruckus to find out what to do next. Double checking that he was equipped with his MA5B Assault rifle, and a standard class pistol he moved on. He almost forgot the large black knife that he had slung on his belt.

The Spartan was now at a sprint, nearly making it out of the launching zone when the area in front of him is blow out by another Covenant volley. The hole sucked Joseph out at great speeds, sending him into space. Thoughts raced through his mind, he frantically looked for a way out but so far he couldn't see one, and his suit wouldn't hold forever in space.

Joseph could see now that an MAC round had hit the shield and went through, causing a large damaged piece in the ship. The Spartan pushes off debris, narrowly moving to the sides to dodge incoming plasma bolts. Penetrating the damaged hull, he breaks through and into the Covenants ship.

Inside was nothing like he had ever imagined the walls were a deep purple shade, and inside were odd ships. Realizing he was in the docking bay, the Spartan dropped down and ran through the ships loud opening doors; furthermore he was greeted with a small four foot alien in an orange colored armor, an odd rebreather equipped to its face.

Not taking a chance, Joseph filled its head full of lead with his pistol, and kept moving. The room was lit with a glowing purple light that matched the room's shade, which reflected off his pale green armor.

Going through another odd splitting door that looked to be made of some type of unknown metal, Avery ended up on a higher level in the aliens docking bay.

_Oh, great. How am I supposed to stop this alien threat if I don't even know were to go? At least the aliens are small and don't seem to be fit for combat._

The Spartan ran across the deck, spotting four of the small Covenant creatures in orange armor. Ducking behind odd box like shapes that probably held the Covenants odd weapons, he carefully took aim and shot a hot bullet into each of their heads, sending some flipping back and screaming in pain, the clatter of their bodies onto a blue puddle of their own blood. The bullets made small holes in the wall behind the dead aliens, and Joseph decided to move up with all the stealth he had acquired in all of his years of training.

After moving through several more room, the Spartan thought that he had nothing much to worry about, calming himself down a little as he crossed the next corner. He bumped into a tall, seven foot alien with a four pronged jaw and blue armor, scaly skin visible in some spots. The alien shouted in anger, its mandibled mouth spreading apart, and its arms flailing around his sides. Joseph back peddled quickly, unslung his MA5B rifle and shooting off a sustained burst aimed at the aliens skull. To this surprise, the bullets pinged off the alien with little affect. This thing had shields similar to their ships. Now Joseph understood, THESE were the Covenants warriors.

More and more shots were fired at the alien, but they simply were pushed aside, beating against the small corridors walls. The Spartan saw now that the alien was running at him at a sprint, its arm outstretched. Avery moved his head and rolled past the alien in time to avoid a fatal lunge. Taking this opportunity to return fire, he delivered a swift kick to the blue armored aliens back.

The alien toppled over on the floor with a splat, moaning as it died. Its purple blood splattered against the wall, making Joseph raised an eyebrow.

_That was a close one. Almost too close._

Wondering whether or not he'd have to face more of these terrifying creatures, the Spartan moved onward through the next door.

As the battle raged outside the ship in space, Rtas had heard radioed transmissions about some kind of green demon onboard the ship, slaughtering his warriors with deadly skill. The demon had apparently made his way from a wounded part of the ship in the docking bay up to the bridge area, and was currently making it's way towards them.

This stunning information chilled Rtas to the bone, and he prayed to the gods for his warriors to destroy this unholy demon and send it back to the gates of hell.

Ushering for his troops to go and investigate, Rtas charged himself and his new squad to hold position here and defend the Minor Prophet, who was angrily ordering the pilots to blast the humans to bits, and they seemed to be doing a good job of it.

The Sangheili and Unggoy left the room, armed with plasma pistols, needlers, and plasma rifles to deal with the threat. Rtas knew they wouldn't fail him.

Returning to his duty, Rtas idly pondered the events to come.

Joseph had made his way through many groups of Covenant soldiers, these "Elites" and "Grunts" sometimes alone, sometime together. His personal energy shields on the Mjolnir defended him greatly from the Covenants plasma weapons, but still died and left him with his normal armor. He had endured several plasma bolts in his side and leg, and tried to bandage the wounds up himself. Several needle like bolts of bright light had sinked into his sides, searing parts of his flesh and causing him extreme displeasure.

Ignoring the pain, he pushed forward, and heard the loud _click-clacking _of boots just down the hall. Jumping to the side, he took cover behind a corner and ducked, looking behind the corner to see a group of four Elites and six Grunts. They held the eerie weapons he had seen earlier, and the Grunts sniffed the area, the taller Elites looking from side to side in search of someone, who Avery suspected was him.

"Ogaarhh!" the alien creature yelled at the Grunts in its garbled language, ordering them to pay attention.

Deciding that this was his best chance, the Spartan threw four grenades down the hall, knocking them off the walls and right under the alien's feet.

In grim satisfaction, Joseph watched the Elite scream and try to roll out of the way, caught in the blinding explosion. The Spartans visor defended him from the light, giving him the chance to see the aliens torn to pieces, their blue and purple blood splattering against the ground, as well as the walls. Body parts exploded and flew randomly, spreading across the stained floor.

Looking from behind the corner, Joseph saw the remains of the Covenant troop. Elite mandibles had been blow off and scattered across the ground. Grunt legs lay mangled, and strewn. The original four Elites were now one, and were the six Grunts had stood now held three, slightly damaged.

Joseph rolled out of the safety of the bend, releasing a spray of MA5B assault rifle bullets into the weakened Covenant. The blasts blew two of the Grunts of their feet, and sprayed into ones arm, tearing it off completely. It squealed in horrible pain, falling to the floor, almost slipping on its foot.

The Elites fired back with plasma rifles, tearing through the Spartans shields and into his soft flesh, burning and searing. He moved to the side blowing the wounded Elites head off and blood spraying into Joseph's visor. The Elite shot at the ground as its body went limp and fell to the ground.

The other Elite screamed in a rage, hitting Joseph in the shoulder. His blood now littered the area as well. Smacking the Elites chest plate in, the alien sprawled backwards, and was finished with a spray off bullets.

The Spartan reloaded his final clip in, and put his back against the wall. He was soaked in purple and blue blood, and his armor held only a few spots that remained green. His shields had begun slowly recharging, and he contemplated what would become of him. How could he survive much longer like this, he was tired, wounded, and running low on his ammo. Kicking the ugly beast in the face, Joseph got up and walked down the hall, he believed he wasn't too far from the command center…

Rtas growled loudly. He had just received a report that the team he sent down was killed, and regret filled his soul. Touching the butt of his plasma rifle lightly Rtas decided that he would have to end this "Demon_" _himself.

"Prophet, I shall deal with this demon."

The Prophet turned his head to Rtas, and nodded, satisfied.

"Good, I am starting to tire of this demon."

Rtas bowed, and took with him four Unggoy out the door. He knew that the Demon was only a few rooms from here, and he planned to ambush it and strike it down.

Joseph had so far not met up with any more resistance, thankfully. Moving through another door, he found himself in a small room with three other doors. He decided to take the one right in front of him. Moving past the odd marks on the walls, the door in front of him slid open, revealing a tall Elite in blue, dented armor followed by a group of Grunts.

Before he could react, the Elite fired off a burst of plasma right at him, taking out his shields. The Grunts fired off needles and plasma shots, the needles stabbing through his armor and exploding.

Joseph moved back to the wall, and started firing bursts from his MA5B at the Covenant soldiers. More covenant plasma blasted nearby, almost hitting him. Allowing his shields to recharge, Joseph checked the ammo counter on his rifle. It read half a clip.

Jumping out, the Spartan fired his bullets, dodging blasts of plasmas and needles; he managed to kill off two of the Grunts. The Elite moved and avoided most of the bullets, continuing the fire fight with the Spartan.

One of the Grunts yelled, and upon order of the Elite he threw a small glowing orb at Joseph. Deciding not to get touched by that thing, he rolled past it and went for the nearest Grunts throat. A loud explosion behind him made him jump, blue fire breaking his shields. Using the last of his ammo, the Spartan blew one more Grunt to pieces, and kicked one into a wall, breaking its rebreather.

The Elite then smacked the Spartan off his feet, sending him into a wall, almost shattering his bones. Retaliating in fashion, Joseph kicked the Elite in his chest effectively getting it out of his way. Reaching for his pistol, the Spartan ducked to avoid a deadly punch from the tall creature. Blasting the creature in the face with his pistol, the shots were reflected into the walls, and the Elite began firing from his cooled plasma rifle, cutting through his shields again and hitting him in the chest. Joseph rolled and tripped the Elite with a swift kick to its awkward knees, shooting the pistol rounds into its sides, and delivering a smack with the back of his gun to the creatures head.

The Elites shields died, and it went sliding across the floor. Its helmet and shield had saved its life, but purple blood ran down his face. The Spartan ran threw the door, watching it slide behind him. Before it had slid all the way, he chucked a fragment grenade through. Seconds later he heard the loud explosion on the other side, and imagined the shrapnel flying from his last grenade. His pistol ammo was now becoming short, but he decided to reload and push on. He had to be getting closer by now.

Rtas had rolled far back, avoiding the grenades blast, the shrapnel flying into his armor and shields, blood oozing from his fresh wounds. Moving his arms from his face, he was welcomed by the death of the Unggoy and their motionless corpses spread around the room. Getting up, Rtas picked his plasma rifle up and rushed after the demon. He couldn't let it get to the Prophet…

Out side the ship, the human vessel was being pounded by the Covenants superior firepower, and was now running sluggishly, close to death while the Covenant ship still held most of its power. The Minor Prophet of light smiled at the chaos that ensured before him.

"Prophet! Rtas and his group have not responded yet, and our sensors tell us that the demon is only one room away from us, he should be here shortly!"

Unggoy screeched in unison, a few running around, but they were quieted by the Sangheili pilots. The Prophet's bug eyes went wide with fear. Calling in help from any nearby ships, the Prophet began shouting out orders to its underlings.

"Quickly! Seal and shut down the doors! Protect me! NOW!"

"It's too late!"

The sliding doors opened and the demon swept in, blasting apart the nearest Unggoy, and sending an elbow into the Sangheili named Dai's face. Dai's shields died and he fell down onto the cold ground, the Demon jumping onto the desk, shooting at the Minor Prophet.

Bullets bounced of his chair, and he tried to run but the Demon jumped onto his chair, and looked at him for a split second, before shoving his gun into the ugly creatures face, and blowing his brains out. The blood and brains of the Minor Prophet sprayed across the floor, and the chair he sat in fell, and exploded with the minor burning carcass still inside. And the Minor Prophet, Emissary of light was no more but a bad memory now.

The demon began shooting at the cowering Unggoy, Sangheili shooting back at it, but being forced to take cover behind their seats as they were pilots.

Shooting off more of his bullets at the hiding soldiers, the demon turned to see the Sangheili with blue dented armor, holding a plasma rifle at his face.

"DIE DEMON!"

Rtas fired the bursts into the Spartans face, taking out his shields, but the demon was quick and it knocked his arm away and shot off its remaining pistol shots into his face. His shields dead, Rtas smacked the pistol away and tried to kick the demon in his stomach. The demon painted in blood ducked and rolled over, avoiding more plasma shots.

Rtas had him pinned, but to his disadvantage the plasma weapon overheated, burning his large hand. Throwing the weapon away with a yell, Rtas jumped up to were the Demon was hiding, and discovered he was no longer there.

Rtas saw on his motion sensor that a flashing light was behind him. The Demon. Rolling far to the side, Rtas saw the Demon now holding a small black blade in its hand, dwindling it gracefully and moving in on him. Rtas felt no fear, and prayed aloud as he searched the room for something that could help him.

**_May the Gods have mercy on your soul, DEMON _**

He spotted an Energy blade just to the side of him in a crate, and even though he was not a high rank, he would have to use the blade slay this demon.

Pulling it out, Rtas activated it, showing the blade to the demon, and saying a low chant. Moving forward a little in the hunched pose, Rtas prepared for the fight of his life. Out side, UNSC ships were boarding the Covenants ships, small drop ships, and out of space came multiple Covenant reinforcements.

With a loud roar, Rtas rushed at the Demon with all his speed, strength, and skill. The Demon rushed as well, his knife extended. Rtas lunged.

_**TO BE COUNTINUED!**_

**_A/N Yes, I give you: A cliff hanger! Sorry guys, but I thought you'd be more interested this way. Besides, I am rather tired, getting this up at 11:50 PM here, before midnight. Yep, I now have Rtas battling a Spartan soldier, how will it end? What about the inbound Covenant ships and boarding human parties? You'll just have to wait till next week to find out! Have a great weekend everyone, and watch out for school! Thanks to The Simon of Cowell of FFnet! He helped me with a few ship things. Thanks for reading, please review!_**


	7. Chapter 6 Up taking of the blade

**Warning: If you copy/plagiarize any part of my story, you will be prosecuted to the maximum legal extent. If I can't really do anything to you legally, I'll just flame you and/or report you, unless it was honestly a coincidence. Enjoy!**

Disclaimer: None of the characters from Halo, Halo 2, or the Halo books are mine. Klasz Hakamamee (the name) belongs to Mr. Xiran and the character itself belongs to Bungie and Microsoft. Yes, he let me use the character, so don't flame me.

**_A/N: GAH. Sorry for being late! Bloody school's started, so I am afraid this may happen. I will still try to update as soon as possible, but I couldn't even START this chapter until Friday afternoon! As you know, lately I haven't been able to edit these recent chapters too much ; sorry. I DO have some good news, at least for me. All of you who don't know, I am a crazy fan boy over Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II series. My absolute favorite character is Axel, he ROCKS! I plan to someday write a fan fiction including him and perhaps other members, but that is for after Rtas'. Anyway, without further-a-do, here's the next exciting chapter!_**

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**Rtas' Vadumee: Rise of a Recruit**

**Chapter 6**

_**Up taking the Blade**_

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Rtas lunged, energy blade clutched tightly in his large palm. The battle damaged Tzoku armor he wore was now stained deeply with purple blood, large dents and holes were apparent in it. His helmet was cracked and bent, but held sturdy. Dead corpses lay around the command center, the Minor Prophets burnt carcass sticking out. The survivors ducked for cover, doing their best not to get blasted.

Rtas's muscles bulged as he summoned the strength and rage from his soul and prepared to slice the Demon in half, not wavering for a second because he knew what happened to those that hesitated. Pushing off the ground with his powerful hooves, Rtas flew at the Demon, whose knife extended like some sort of deadly snake poised to strike.

The blade missed by an inch, the green armored Spartan turning his body to the side in the mere split second before impact. Joseph moved forward to dive his black combat knife into the alien's side, but it was too fast. Recoiling at a seemingly lighting speed, the alien Elite twisted and swung the strange lighting blade back at a curve, which intended to slice Joseph in half. Rolling past the Elite, Spartan seven-one-seven did a low kick, looking forward to watching the Elite's knees buckle an it fall to the ground.

This of course didn't happen. Rtas felt the strong kick to the back of his knees, and winced at the pain. His rage was too strong though, and he tried to stab the stained Demon again and pin him to the ground, but it rolled again and back flipped. The human Demon rapidly grabbed the last grenade from his side, and hefted it at Rtas, aiming below his feet.

The Sangheili sprinted to the side, and ducked, the explosion sending shrapnel and a blinding light over the area. The Covenant crew also took cover, moving their arms to cover their face. Rtas turned quickly, his blade leveled to strike down any who oppose him. Fortunately, perhaps by luck, nothing in the room vital was damaged. A few control consoles were sparking and dieing but all seemed to be in correct order.

Twisting his head to the side, Rtas saw the Demon rushing at him. It jumped off the wall and had its deadly knife in a downward motion, obviously going for his neck. Rtas moved his leg over and knocked the accursed beast clear across the room, its fiery blood spreading. Jumping off one of the security panels, Rtas lunged again at the Demon.

Joseph shook his head, recovering from the blow to his side. The alien was now on top of him, and was going for a downward stab, giving the Spartan little to no time to react. Pushing himself up, Joseph knocked back the Elite's hand with his fist, stabbing its arm with the black knife deep through its armor and into the flesh. With his other arm Joseph grabbed the alien's second hand and held its wrist tight, while kneeing it in the stomach.

Rtas's vision went blurry when the Demons knee made contact with him, sending out purple blue blood over its visor. Rtas felt weary, and the knife in his arm echoed throughout his body, bidding him to lie down and die.

_It's not my time, not just yet…._

Rtas pushed forward, but the Demon held on to his wrist. Rushing him, Rtas pushed the Demon into the nearby wall, and then started to beat him against it ferociously. They struggled, and the Demon was forced to let go of his arm and move back. Jumping off to the side, the Demon searched for a weapon but found none in sight.

Rtas howled loudly, pulling the knife out of his arm and throwing it off to the far side. In the regular hunched position, he ran up to the Demon and began swinging his sword, aiming for its abdomen.

Joseph could feel the heat from the awkward sword, barely moving in time to dodge a flurry of strikes before they could rip him to shreds. He had seen the human vessels managing to board during the skirmish with the alien "Prophet", and knew it wouldn't be long until they got here and took hold of the situation. He had also noticed ships that weren't USNC, most likely Covenant reinforcements.

Darting to the side, the Demon readied a combat stance, now backed up against a wall Rtas had recently been trying to trap it in. Rtas ignored its pathetic posture, and he jumped high into the air and lunged with the fury of his being.

Joseph wasn't fast enough this time, and he knew it was too late. The energy blade made a deadly curve, and sliced through his head down his body, the gore spreading across the area.

Rtas deactivated the blade and breathed in, wiping the gruesome remains from his armor as he limped to the control station. The Covenants crew moved out from their cover and roared in approval of Rtas's latest act. Some of the Unggoy got near the burning remains of the Demon and shot at it with their plasma pistols, jumping back at first then laughing at it.

Before Rtas could relax, a transmission came in from the nearest control panel. Not only that, but several others did so as well, alerting them of incoming human forces. Rtas activated the panel, and a transmission came in, a familiar voice was heard over the COM.

"This is the Ship Master of the _Prophecy; _we are preparing to board your vessel and sending reinforcements in. The human ship is being destroyed by our weapons at the moment, what is going on down there?"

Rtas's father seemed rushed, and he could see on the monitor the Covenant dropships latching on to their ship and sending in units. Rtas calmed himself and replied back.

"Sir, this is Rtas. Our ship was boarded by a demon, and it managed to do some damage as well as kill the Minor Prophet. After some trouble, I managed to kill it. Unfortunately, we have recently been alerted to more human presence, and we are unsure if this is the only demon. Acknowledge reinforcements."

Rtas wiped sweat from his forehead. He wasn't calm at all, and they had been caught off guard. Afraid he may have crossed some type of law over the intercom, Rtas straightened up and started tracking the onboard humans, who were starting to make their way to the command center.

After a long pause, the Ship Master answered back calmly.

"Understood, we shall rid the Covenant of this filth soon enough. Hold position, and keep the command center safe."

With that, the intercom snapped off and Rtas was left with the five Sangheili and nine Unggoy in the room. Noting what they had, Rtas decided to take charge; after all they seemed to be looking to him for guidance.

"Alright, you heard the Ship Master. We must hold this territory until reinforcements arrive and deal with the human pests. Sangheili, lock up the doors and get to your stations. Grab weapons as well, we may need them. As for the Unggoy, set up turrets at all entry ways and exits. Man them and offer cover fire for the Sangheili."

Rtas watched as they scurried to obey his orders, Unggoy grabbing the turrets from their supply boxes and Sangheili locking the doors and keeping an eye on their control panels, watching the human invaders and Covenant saviors board the ship.

Pleased, Rtas looked at the energy blade in his hand, gazing at its beauty and power. Equipping it to his belt, he grabbed the plasma rifle recently dropped and also attached it. After double checking the doors, Rtas went around and inspected the bodies. He shed a tear for the lost and went to one body after the next.

After several quiet moments, he happened upon another Sangheili who looked familiar. Checking the ID, Rtas found that it was Dai'. The Sangheili controlled himself and checked his brother's pulse, relived that he was indeed alive. Moving the unconscious Sangheili to the back, Rtas instructed several Unggoy to put dressings on his wounds and get back into position.

Several minutes passed until one of the Sangheili pilots turned and alerted Rtas of the incoming threat. Turning to his men, Rtas ushered them to get ready and hold firm against the humans. Apparently, the Covenant soldiers aboard had to come in from the opposite side of the humans, and only a few groups had met up with human presence, and of course the dealt with them correctly. Rtas felt relief knowing that they had not met with another demon.

A large banging at the left had door was heard, and automatic weapons fired at it. Rtas crouched into position, and watched the door break open from the human's fire. There was about twelve of them, all armed to the teeth with MA5B Assault rifles, wearing their metallic armor with its gray shine.

"FIRE!"

The Unggoy released the seemingly never ending bursts of plasma at the human invaders, while the other Covenant troops and Rtas threw grenades and fired their plasma weapons at the dirty scum.

"AGGHGGAA!"

The humans screeched in pain, many falling over and being shot again and again until they stopped twitching. A few made it through the door and began firing at the Unggoy manning the turrets, but they were cut down almost instantly by Covenant fire. Blood and armor spewed all over the floor, and Rtas let his rifle cool, looking onto the dead human troops.

Amazing how weak they were without their Demon, he thought before checking the monitors. More humans were approaching their position, but this time from BOTH sides. One of the humans stopped, spotting the monitor. Hesitating for a moment, the marine leveled his weapon and shot the camera, causing the screen Rtas was viewing to go blank with static.

Smashing his fist upon the table in frustration, Rtas moved back to his own position, and performed hand signals that he had learned from Naku' Malikzee back in the training camps.

"Warriors, we now have human's incoming from both sides, we must defend them with equal diligence if we hope to win. Unggoy, split half of your race and have the doors guarded by the plasma turrets."

The Unggoy were happy to obey, scuttling to move the turrets over slightly and jabbering in their own tongue. Rtas turned to find Dai' still unconscious against the wall.

"As for the Sangheili, we must now switch our tactics up a bit. Gather your grenades, and may the forerunners be with us!"

Rtas moved to the equipment in the small room, grabbing two grenades and carefully putting them in his belt pouch before getting into the middle of the room and reviewing the monitors.

After several minutes Rtas heard the all too familiar sound of boots clacking against the ground, and knew that the humans were nearly there. Barking more orders in his own language, Rtas hopped over a large overturned barrel and crouched.

A single human rolled out from the left side of the corridor connected to the control room. He wore the same attire, with the MA5B held tightly against his chest.

With a roar, Rtas fired at him with his plasma rifle, searing off side of his face, the body falling to the ground with a satisfying "clunk".

A group of five humans rushed through from the other side firing their weapons in the general direction of the Covenant soldiers. Bullets pinged off Rtas's shields, and he turned to face the new threat. The Unggoy began blasting at the incoming humans, but all of the sudden more fire came from the opposite corner and blew the poor diminutive alien off its feet and sent it sprawling to the ground in a bloody mess.

A Sangheili yelled and started shooting at the invaders from the other side, a group of nine humans fully equipped.

"Get'em boys! GO GO GO!"

Rtas's shields depleted as another human shoulder exploded from a needler's barrage, spraying body parts against the wall. Rtas rolled out of the way in time to dodge another assault of bullets, throwing a plasma grenade down the left side's hall and returning fire with his plasma rifle.

The humans noticed the odd flaming sphere, and immediately rolled forward, the ones further back being caught off guard and getting caught in the explosion. They didn't make it in one piece to the control center.

More human soldiers pooled in, and now there was a frantic battle, the plasma turrets unable to turn and hit the humans from their angle in the room. Rtas shot another human down, a random volley nailing him in the leg and forcing him to bend down in pain.

The plasma rifle overheated, and Rtas dropped it, favoring the newly acquired plasma blade. Now rushing into the ensuring madness, Rtas lopped an unsuspecting marines head off, kicking the body out of the way and raging forward. He smacked another human into a control monitor, stabbing him in the chest deeply.

Now Rtas allowed his inner Sangheili nature take control, slicing and dicing through the aliens, all the while directing fire. More humans came into the room, furthermore the overwhelming fire cut down all Unggoy in the room, leaving three Sangheili fighting other then Rtas. Bullets ripped through his already tired flesh, and Rtas felt the weariness already draining him of his strength.

A grenade went off in the far side, killing a Sangheili and several marines in the blast, as well as knocking several soldiers off their feet. Rtas sliced one of the humans MA5B in half along with his arm.

"AH! Dear GOD!"

The human wailed and fell over, tears streaming down his face. The Sangheili ignored his screams, and presumed to end his suffering with a fatal lunge.

The Next thing Rtas felt was bullets piecing through his back and coming out the other side, hitting the nearby walls. Rtas turned and cut down another adversary, only to be blasted from the side. Falling down and rolling to the side with a moan, Rtas tried to stay conscious. A kick to the side of his face sent him sprawling into the wall. The last thing he saw were Sangheili coming into the side and battling with the humans….

Rtas came to sometime later, pain spreading through his body. He was in the **_Prophecy, _**on a medical table similar to the one he had been on days ago. Looking around, Rtas found that he was not alone in the room. The tables around him held multiple Sangheili, even some Unggoy had been sent. Many of the warriors there had wounds even more severe then Rtas himself.

Rtas turned his long elongated head to see the doors split open, a gold armored Sangheili walked through, followed by several other Sangheili and medics. The gold Sangheili was the Ship Master of course, Alzeke' Vaduamee. Glancing at the weakened soldiers in the beds, Alzeke' moved up to his son.

Smirking, or at least as well as a Sangheili COULD smirk, Alzeke looked down at Rtas.

"My son, what a noble warrior you have become. I am very proud of what you've displayed."

Rtas flexed, pushing his body up to the eye level of his father.

"I've seen the battles that transpired at the Minor Prophets ship, and although the lost of the minor Prophet is great…."

The elder Sangheili chuckled, noting his distaste of the annoying rodent.

"…we still have earned another glorious victory, another artifact was found on the planets surface and the humans obliterated. From what was heard of the survivors, and security monitors, you single handedly commanded the group there to hold out until reinforcements could arrive and deal with them."

"Ship Master, I owe it all to the higher arcs and their blessings, as well as the training I endured."

The Ship Master waved his hand aside, and began again, his tone deep.

"I also have been told of a "Demon" that resulted in over one hundred sixty-three casualties of Covenant soldiers. And yet you, a low ranking soldier managed to uphold the holy blade and cut down this demon and send it from whence it came. The Prophets will reward you well for this."

Rtas noticed that his wounds had been stitched, and his normal Sangheili attributes caused him to heal much quicker then most other races. Moving off the side of the table, he was revealed to be wearing no armor, his dark reptilian skin shone pale in the Covenant lights.

"Father, I am too honored. I shall be ready for whatever Gods have planned for me. What are my orders?"

The large Sangheili walked back, making his way out of the room at a steady pace.

"We have already docked at High Charity, to personally rely all information that we found in the last mission. You are to receive and honor ceremony for slaying this demon and keeping the ship protected, as well as tell them of the demon with more detail."

The Sangheili left the room, leaving Rtas alone. Feeling fatigued, Rtas noticed a new pair of armor set up to the side of him. It held a note for Rtas, revealing that this new armor was for him. It shined a dark red, with a deep black line through the top, signifying high Major rank. Rtas was deeply gratified for the armor, and assumed that this was his new promotion for the latest mission. Finally, he could rise to a higher rank and truly serve the Covenant to his fullest.

Placing the helmet and tightly securing it on his head he suited up, the armor more comfortable but much heavier then before. It seemed to provide stronger shields and better protection, a gift that would serve well in the fields. Rtas's old blue armor lay on the floor, holes and scars with parts shredded littered the ground.

Rtas moved out of the room and strode through the halls, until he reached the Gravity lift to High Charity. Going down it, Rtas spotted multiple Honor Guards at rigid attention, and even Ship Masters strode at attention. Rtas now recalled the theory of the sacred rings, and he knew that they had not found them. The lift carried him down to the decorated halls, and he walked past the Sangheili, who each spared a fleeting look at him.

The new Major was soon followed by multiple Ship Masters, each following behind him in a simple formation, careful to not pass him but also not to fall behind. It was odd that their posture showed as though he were superior in some way, despite ranks. Rtas entered through one of the large splitting doors, walking in with due haste onto the Grav lift that would take him down to the Prophets chambers.

Ahead stood hundreds of Honor Guards, all at rigid attention, unmoving. He admired them for the second time before walking through another series of doors into the Hierarchs room. Rtas looked around, seeing the room covered in high ranking warriors. Ship Masters, Field Masters, and SPEC-OPS Leaders even, all in one room. Rtas saw now multiple Councilors, one speaking directly to the Prophet of Truth.

"Councilor Agomee, I am afraid we cannot authorize your request. We simply can't deal with the Humans in that manner; brute force is not what the Covenant is made of. Your discipline made sure of that."

Truth seemed aggravated, to say the least. The Sangheili in bright silver armor bowed and replied with grace.

"I understand, O' Prophet. But you must see that this, _Filth _must be eradicated from the galaxy. They must face the full wrath of the Covenant, for they hold the secret of the rings. My action is to simply destroy them from the source-"

Truth raised his hand and aimed his beady eyes at Agomee, who stopped mid sentence, bowing and returning back to his seat. Truth and the other Prophet's Mercy and Regret turned over to see Rtas now standing on the other side of the room. Raising his hand , he ushered the Sangheili towards him.

"This would be the warrior who single handedly defended a Cruiser, not only that but he has also killed this, **_DEMON._**"

Rtas didn't dare break eye contact with the high Prophet, but he could sense the stares of all in the room now on him. Stepping forward Rtas bowed to Truth and looked up.

"You may speak, young warrior."

Truth's demeanor suddenly changed to that of a kind, wise elder. Strange, but Rtas decided to pay no heed to it.

"I am Rtas, son of Alzeke' Vaduamee. I was stationed aboard the Minor Prophet's Cruiser; on our voyage we encountered a human ship and planet."

Rtas's mind switched back to that moment when they came out of slip space to discover they were not alone.

"We began to obliterate this threat with our Cruisers far superior weapons, but they somehow managed to break through our shields in some parts of the hull. Then, our soldiers suddenly were being slaughtered as this new entity of evil made its way to the control room. "

The audience was now completely silent, interested in this story. Rtas had always enjoyed stories, but being watched by the elder's frightened him in a way battle could not.

"I was ordered to deal with the threat, and a long battle soon ensured…This Demon was painted in the blood of our species, and he wielded the weapons of the vermin. It was taller then them, faster, and as strong as a Sangheili. He managed to kill the Minor Prophet, along with some members of the crew, thinking I had fallen. But I fought with all of my might, taking the Holy blade of our race and sending him to hell."

The audience of Councilors, SPEC-OPS Commanders, and Field Masters gazed at him with pride. The Councilors cheered loudly, raising their hands. The other Sangheili followed, and shouted out praise was given to Rtas.

Rtas lifted his head and stood tall, noting Agomee was watching him intently. Next to the high Councilor was his father, who smiled. His mandibles clicking against each other, Alzeke' turned and spoke privately with Agomee. The Prophet's turned to him, and Mercy began something that Rtas didn't quite catch.

Truth then reached into his robe and pulled out an energy blade hilt. Holding the blade out to Rtas, he spoke once more.

"Rtas, take up this blade, let it signify of what you have done. Today, you shall be honored with a feast and given a name."

_A name? _Rtas knew that only things of worth were named, and even some Major Sangheilis had not received their full name. The Prophet's voice echoed throughout the room once he continued.

"You shall from now on be called…. Rtas Vadumee."

Rtas Vadumee. It echoed in his head, and felt good. Similar to his own family name, but the "a" taken away to denote he was his own warrior. Grabbing the blade as gracefully as he could, Rtas held the hilt in both hands, and then in his right hand, activating it in front of him and staring into its beauty.

"That is not all. You may go by another way, Klasz' Hakamamee. This shall be the name that honors your victory over Demons, and it will be an extra title."

Rtas took that in. Deciphering text had taught him that "Klasz" meant Strength, and "Hakamamee" meant will. Klasz was also the name of one of the first born Sangheili who sided with the Prophets to search for the rings, Hakamamee and great scripter who foretold and wrote the Covenants books.

Rtas humbly bowed as low as he could, accepting his new promotion into the Covenant. The spectators calmly moved from their seats, going onto their other business, most likely a discussion about what to do about the human threat, as well as more converses on the Demon.

Rtas went to his father, who was now standing alone and stirring in the small area around him.

"Rtas Vadumee, congratulations. I have waited this day for long, and we shall feast in celebration!"

Alzeke' Vaduamee beamed with ecstasy, as though one of his own dreams had been realized. Rtas had taken many a bullet, and even fought Demons, but this was the turning point in his career. Now the blade was strapped tightly to his belt, Rtas occasionally checking if it was still in place.

Without another word, Rtas followed his father and the other high ranking Sangheili up the Gravity lift, and deeper into High charity….

Truth made sure that no one other then Mercy, Regret and himself were in the room before continuing an early conversation.

"This so called Demon could pose a problem for us, unless we deal with it quickly."

Regret spoke up, moving closer to Truth via his hover chair, finger pointing out as if to label out something of irritancy.

"Bah, let the Sangheili bumble about and deal with them! We have more important matters at hand."

"Enough Regret, we must not completely push this aside, or it may come back to haunt us. As for the rings, this next artifact will no doubt lead us closer to them."

The Prophets spoke in whispers for sometime, plotting something vile. Unbeknownst to them, the humans were already gaining a valuable asset…

_**To be continued!**_

_**A/N: Gah, it's been rather hectic here with School and all, so as I once said these will sometime be lacking both editing and time, since this one came a whole week late! I am dreadfully sorry --. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, and I will do my best to get the next chapter up the following Friday. Please read and review!**_


	8. Chapter 7 Its a PLASMA BOMB?

**Warning: If you copy/plagiarize any part of my story, you will be prosecuted to the maximum legal extent. If I can't really do anything to you legally, I'll just flame you and/or report you, unless it was honestly a coincidence. Enjoy!**

Disclaimer: None of the characters from Halo, Halo 2, or the Halo books are mine. Klasz Hakamamee (the name) belongs to Mr. Xiran and the character itself belongs to Bungie and Microsoft. Yes, he let me use the character, so don't flame me.

_**A/N: Hello everybody! Thanks again for viewing loyal fans; it really means a lot for your encouragement and support! Unfortunately, this one is probably going to be a bit late and unedited, but that's to be expected. Another downer, I was about half way through the chapter when my Computer froze and KILLED this chapter, making me start ALL OVER again! SOB Oh well, I suppose what happens happens. Anyway, please read and review, don't be afraid to offer ideas! Without further-a-do, ENJOY!**_

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**Rtas' Vadumee: Rise of a Recruit**

**Chapter 7**

"**Look! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a….PLASMA BOMB?**

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Rtas's boots made a _clunking _sound as they hit the hard floor of the decks aboard the _Prophecy. _Off to either side stood groups of minor ranked Sangheili in the pale blue armor, faces eager and at attention, focused on the red armored veteran. Out side the Covenant Destroyer, was the human colony planet "Corte'd zur", Rtas couldn't quite remember the exact name of the planet, and frankly he didn't much care. It was just another human dwelling that needed to be obliterated.

It had been long since Rtas became a Major of the Covenant military, and he had done a few things in this time, ranging from typical patrol duty, to eradicate Heretics smuggling weapons. Still, it had been awhile since the encounter of humans, and he was about to get a little more action. The soldiers that stood at rigid attention were under his own personal command, many nearly as old as him, yet others new to the Covenant. The total was twenty-five Sangheili, and a group of twelve veteran Unggoy. Rtas had full confidence in his soldiers, knowing that they could handle whatever he threw at him, even the new ones proved themselves on multiple occasions.

Among the new minors, stood Dai' the new demolition expert, Zekunee' the dual wielder, he preferred using two plasma rifles in quick bursts to effectively deal with any threat. Rtas had met him after becoming a Major, and he had proved an exceptionally equip warrior. Another warrior was Zekunee's younger brother, who wielded dual needlers and covered his older sibling. He had joined along with Zekunee, and although younger then most, the Sangheili showed "explosive" results on the field. The final high level minor was Rtas's second in command, and a loyal friend. Kusovai was his name, his full name bearing "blade master" as the title given to him. The reason for this was that Kusovai was most likely the first and youngest to use energy blades in combat, and he wielded them with deadly efficiency. Rtas noted the blades on his belt, touching his own blade at his side before cocking his head to look out the flat panel screen revealing Covenant ships closing in on the small human colony.

Rtas heard a cracking on his intercom, and the deep voice of the ship master.

"Rtas Vadumee, send your squad down with the other dropships to clean up human resistance around the human's residence. Afterwards, I shall come down personally to search the forunner temple for any signs of the god's artifacts. Be sure to alert me once you have slain all the humans."

So, there was some sign of the Forerunners left upon the planet. At least there was some fruit to their search, other then of course eradicating more vermin. Tapping the plasma rifle at his side, Rtas turned for the panel, replying to his father in a monotonous tone.

"As you say, it shall be done."

Rtas clicked of his COM and went to his soldiers, standing at full height. Strolling calmly forward, Rtas looked back at his loyal warriors and spoke in a deep tone, appearing for what he was: a powerful Sangheili veteran.

"Warriors, we have orders to set off and land on the human planet, penetrate their defenses and obliterate the un-holiness. We are one of the five teams sent to do the dirty work, and will have back-up assistance if necessary."

Rtas winced once he mentioned back up, it never made ones mind easy knowing that there would be something that could force them to call for back up.

"We leave for the shuttles immediately, be sure you're suited up and we will depart for the docking bay."

Hitting his chest with his clenched fist, Rtas moved through the splitting doors ahead of him, the Sangheili and Unggoy following close behind him in tight formation through the large halls. It wasn't long before Rtas and his team found the hanger, which was crowded by Sangheili pilots and Unggoy technicians, frantically setting up the dropships for immediate departure.

Rtas went off to the left route on the docking bays of the massive ship, causally walking past lower level and higher ranking warriors as he stepped aboard the large U shaped drop-ship. It was the one he frequently used; the pilot had saved him and his team more then once on several of their most perilous mission. Standing inside by the door, the elite warrior watched seeing that each of his squad boarded and took their positions, their various weapons clung to the side and clattered against the Tzoku battle damaged armor. Rtas idly noticed the many dents and scars on his own deep red armor, honor scars.

Shouting loudly to the pilot and ushering him to seal the doors with a quick forward hand motion, Rtas walked to the middle of the small vessel and gripped a bar. The pilot Roza'k got the message, sending the signal that they were ready for immediate take off. Down below the veteran Sangheili nodded and pushed a large button, the plasma shields and doors opening for a brief time. Multiple dropships and small Covenant assault ships sped out, racing to the planets surface. Rtas clung tightly, the ship was going too fast, or was it? The situation was dangerous, and Rtas began to wonder about their chances of even making to the planets surface.

The humans were not as weak as the Covenant thought; they fired back with what they could spare, the Archer missiles shooting at the incoming ships. Two drop-ships were blown in less then an instant, the Archer missiles tearing them apart along with the crew aboard. Rtas looked away from the scanners as their debris floated through space. Roza'k shifted the ship over, carefully avoiding the war heads as they flew through the space and eventually impacting against a Covenant ship. The shields blocked the attack, but the humans were now firing on the Covenant frigate, and soon its shield had been broken through and hundreds of the Archer missiles managed to hit it from the inside, spelling instant death for the Covenant ship. But it still was not enough; there were still many Covenant Cruisers and frigates, with hundreds of drop ships incoming. The missile turrets couldn't stop them all.

Rtas held on as a random swerve nearly knocked him and the crew aboard off balance. The pilot was being daring, using a nearby meteorite as cover. It was blown to small molecules, Rtas's crew going below, and now close to the surface with a handful of drop-ships backing them up. The Archer missiles are contained in missile pods, containing 20-36 missiles. Each missal has a very powerful warhead, a single one of them capable of shattering a covenant dropship. Roza'k had only just avoided them, but the other Covenant drop-ships still had to deal with them.

Breaking through into the atmosphere, Rtas and his team noticed the planets amazing forest life, trees and rivers could be viewed from the monitors aboard. Rtas breathed deeply, mentally preparing for tactical clash down on those grounds. Rtas could guess that the humans had prepared for them, and planned on fighting to the last man, which is just what the Sangheili commander wanted.

The dropship swerved recklessly as the human resistance begun to attack with MAC cannons, blowing more Covenant ships as they entered the atmosphere. Rtas's yelled for his troops to hold on, though the sound of battle made it difficult to hear; still they got the message. Just as the Covenant drop-ship made another turn to the left, nearing the drop point, an MAC shot clipped its right side, sending it spiraling forward at an alarming rate. Roza'k began entering commands, buckling himself up and shouting for the crew aboard to hang on. Rtas retorted as calmly as he could, and held steadily. More fire could be heard outside, and Roza'k struggled with all his might to land/crash nearest to the drop off point.

Smashing into several trees, the Sangheili pilot crashed the large U shaped ship directly into one, causing the warriors aboard to stumble from their earlier positions. Rtas smacked his head and walked to the pilot room, relived to see him relatively unharmed, blood streamed from his face and a large crack in his helmet was apparent.

Moving to his side, Rtas began sending hand signals to his soldiers to get ready to move out and secure the perimeter, and get back on schedule.

"Roza'k, are you alright?"

"Yes brother, I shall be fine. We must continue with the mission as ordered, I will call for assistance from nearby Covenant ships, and tell the Ship Master that we arrived."

Nodding, Rtas rushed back to his team and found they had grabbed their gear, the Unggoy had even gathered the supply's and spare weapons. Feeling pride in his team, Rtas got to work on un-sealing the doors. The pilot felt regret for not being able to come along, but he remembered his own mission and got to work. The drop-ship's door's split open, and Rtas soon discovered they were at about twenty feet above ground,

Before leaving Rtas noted the scenery, dull plant life and air so moist and strong, Rtas had some trouble breathing it in. It reminded him of the training facilities and hunting grounds aboard many Covenant ships were the Sangheili would be able to hunt and stay sharp throughout the long travels across the vastness of space. Noting that many of the other Sangheili and Unggoy underneath his command were staring at him for immediate orders, Rtas moved back and allowed his distraction to fade back. However, he did not forget the small, rat-like animals that patrolled the ground and the thick trees that may be used as cover.

"Alright warriors, let's get to work on getting down from these confounded trees. From there, we shall be silent and swift on our way to the human's defenses, and CRUSH them!"

The Sangheili roared, forgetting the meaning of "silent". The Unggoy squeaked in acknowledgement, and started tying large ropes to secured parts of the large tree, Sangheili soldiers helping them along while Rtas scouted the area with binocular like equipment, searching for any humans or human defenses as well as choke points. It looked all clear to him. Then again, a mistake that could befall them was usually unexpected.

Taking a last look below them for any signs, Rtas went down the first rope, followed closely by his fellow Sangheili and at last the diminutive Unggoy down the slippery slope. The Sangheili Major was already formulating a strategy, counting the various flaws and scenarios through his head as he made his way down, avoiding squirrel like creatures and insects. The soldiers at the rear him held closely to the rope, but also kept an alert gaze at their surroundings, ready to leap in an instant as well as unsling their various weapons and be ready for action.

Hopping of the tree at some five' feet, Rtas crouched low, the awkward plant life and tall grass covering him from most sides. The only thing that could give him away was the blatant crimson armor that he bore, and its shining symbols. Dismissing that fact, Rtas watched his Sangheili follow him down, crouching and hugging the ground for cover as the Unggoy hopped in their ranks and ducked.

After several moments of checking the area, Rtas was faithful they were not too close to the humans, and he decided to give out the orders. The surrounding region was filled with large tall trees, long weeds and grass, as well as the occasional wandering animal. From their position, Rtas guessed that there position had only been knocked off a mile or so from the original target, and that this could turn to their benefit, as the humans had obviously not defended this particular area well.

Raising his long arm, Rtas gave the signal to move up and follow him, as he broke to a sprint across the forest, moving up to the high ground and pulling his Plasma rifle from his belt, carefully aiming it in front of him, right four fingered hand gripping tightly on the gun. Moving swiftly through the trees, it took only around fifteen minutes for the group of Covenant to see the human camp. It was lined with well trained marines, covering numerous spots and armed with pistols, MA5B assault rifles, and several even had sniper rifles armed and ready. Turrets and human warthogs fully manned swooped the area, and were relentlessly alert, the invasion just starting.

Rtas hung low in the deep bushes that surrounded his area, the camp had, from what he could see, two openings and a third gate that led further back to the main base of the human colony. The two front openings were split diagonally, and each had multiple soldiers guarding them, the place was well defended and outnumbered Rtas and his band of Covenant underlings. Rtas took pride and strength in the faith that was put into him, and he assumed that they could break through and stealthy assassinate the enemy, with minimum resistance as well as, Rtas hoped, zero casualties.

This war had begun not too long ago, and although Rtas felt invigorated and excited about the prospect of battle, glory, and power, he shed tears for the fallen comrades he had lost. Who would be next in life to prematurely go onto the Great Journey? Dai'? Zekunee'? Kusovai? Himself? Pondering these things in part of his mind made him realize how war was deadly, and that it could take just about any warriors life in a matter of instants before they even knew what happened.

Trudging onward and pushing the thoughts of death from his brain, Rtas carefully thought of a plan that would deal with them. The Warthogs and turrets came first, he had seen the large metallic vehicles on multiple missions, usually were he and his team were forced to dissipate. As for the turrets, they were holding back the air force and dropships from getting in, and that could not be tolerated. Next in line, the snipers. A competent sniper could easily pick off most of his team if he could get a clear view of them, so Rtas needed them out of the picture.

Finally, the human foot soldier marines, who in many ways fought like a Sangheili more then an Unggoy, and could be a nasty threat, Of course, once the heavy armored vehicles and turrets were taken out, it would spread confusion and doubt among their ranks, giving the Covenant a chance to get in and take them out in close corners.

Then again, the human garrisons would try to pick them off, and Rtas knew that with their fewer numbers, they had a large disadvantage. It would take a miracle to destroy all of that without the loss of major casualties. And without Banshee's and other powerful vehicles to decimate them, his job turned from bad to worse.

Creeping back a bit, Rtas thought hard for several moments, the Sangheili and Unggoy silent and loyal. Rtas was about to have his warriors try to find another way in, when his Sangheili instincts picked up to the sound of something large moving in from behind them. Rolling to the side, Rtas and his soldiers spread out and raised their weapons to the direction of the beast in one swift motion.

Out from the side came a massive Wraith tank, purple in color with various dents, scratches, and even some blood dripped from its sides. Rtas held his stance as the vehicle held its position in the forest, the whirl of it hovering left an annoying droning sound that Rtas hoped didn't give away their position. An eerie silence engulfed them, and the Covenant soldiers stared for a moment, knowing that if the tank was hostile that they would be in deep shit.

It was not too rare that a human managed to get inside a Covenant vehicle, Rtas had seen them on ghosts on one occasion. Though not very good at it, the damn monkeys could figure out the controls and cause confusion, though Rtas had never heard of one taking a tank.

The Wraith moved closer, and the hatch popped, revealing a blue armored Sangheili, his shoulder revealed multiple bullet wounds, but other then that he appeared fine. Rtas lowered his weapon and walked forward to the Sangheili in the Wraith.

"Warrior, were did you come from?"

Lowering his head to his superior, the young trooper spoke up.

"Your Excellency, I was dropped with the first platoon of soldiers, over a mile from this position. We fought hard against greater forces, but I was the only to survive. I came this way after finding a distress signal from your shuttle, and I located your position."

Rtas admired the young soldiers skill and adaptiveness, seeing some of himself in the young warrior.

"What is your name soldier?"

"It is Naqua', Excellency."

Rtas could see now that this Sangheili was female, which could be rare on the battlefield. None the less, she had shown that she was a competent warrior to pilot a Wraith, and Rtas respected that.

"Alright, you're just what I was looking for. We need to blow our way into a human encampment down there", Rtas gestured past the tall trees down to were the humans had been stationed.

"With a Wraiths help, we can do just that. As of now, you are in our team until further notice, now follow me."

It didn't take long to get down to their previous hiding spots, but the Wraith was far to large to get down without making a scene so Rtas had her stationed up a little higher, were the vehicle had a good shot of the base. Using the hand signals acquired from previous experience, Rtas guided his soldiers further down, and waited until he had everyone positioned correctly.

Rtas held his hand up, and signaled the mark. The Unggoy and Sangheili began hurling plasma grenade barrages as far as they could into the clusters of human soldiers atop and below the encampment, many of the sticky bombs landed on various soldiers, causing them to gape at the bomb before it blew them, and their fellow man to pieces.

The Wraith fired of three large plasma bombs at the base before the humans could react to what was happening, before darting to the side of a multiple large rocks for cover. Rtas and his team rolled out of sight as the plasma bombs destroyed turrets and more footmen in their wake. The human Sergeants struggled to organize the marines, but with them spread out; there wasn't much they could really do before Rtas's squad repeated the tactic, obliterating more soldiers.

Finally, the humans began getting organized, and using their snipers they managed to spot the team of Covenant and judge were the large plasma bombs were coming from. They hurried to take hold of the situation from inside their fort, sending out groups of marines to deal with the Covenant strike force.

Rtas grabbed the carbine from his back, a new and unstable weapon in the Covenants arsenal that he and several other warriors had taken while they had the chance. It was a superb weapon, with a quick firing rate and even more improved accuracy; it's only problems were the amount of ammo it contained.

The Sangheili Major had instructed the Sangheili earlier to begin picking off the incoming troops by using their carbines, as well as to pick off the snipers from atop the tower before they could do the same. Aiming carefully a he quickly dashed for more cover as clips of human fire were sprayed at him, Rtas shot of four shots, each one nailing a human in the head with a direct shot, first blowing off the helmet and then finishing the job with another shot before dodging and reloading, his warriors followed the example and managed to pick off all the marines before they got too close.

Naqua' moved to the side as she fired off more volleys of plasma at the humans, blowing away their turrets and foot soldiers in the process before seeking cover from the trees and rocks that covered the area. It was a good strategy, and Rtas was proud of the results that came off it. Already over half off the human units were dead, the others in a frantic rush to get hold of the situation.

As his team ducked from more poorly aimed sniper shots behind the trees, Rtas saw two Warthogs fully manned coming their way from the right side. He knew that if the garrison remained intact, they would be doomed once the humans regrouped. Roaring, Rtas raised his arm and ushered Zekunee', Dai', and Kusovai to follow him. He also turned his head and reported into his COM unit.

"Naqua', we have human Warthogs on our position, you know what to do. Praise the Forerunners."

Stopping, the Sangheili peppered the first warthog with carbine shots from a distance, the trees and their energy shields blocking off the assaults bullets. They were trying to get a clear shot at the driver, and take down the whole vehicle before it could get close while the rest of Rtas's squad repeated the hit and run maneuvers and regroup soon after.

Rtas hit the windshield, but missed the driver by mere 2' inches, the Warthogs now getting closer and at a high speed of at least thirty miles an hour. Dirt and rock were thrown from the ground to the sides, and Rtas felt a bead of sweat form from the side of his reptilian face.

Then Kusovai landed three hits into the pilots head, killing him instantly and causing the vehicle to come to a deadly halt only no more then forty five feet away. As the second one approached, a large plasma bomb sent it flying far away, its crew being instantly blown to pieces, and the other hog been knocked far off to the size, crushing the surviving marines inside.

Roaring and raising his fist, Rtas picked off another marine from the fort, the human falling off the top of the base and cracking his neck at the bottom. The Covenant group continued, and several minutes later the base had fallen. Using the Wraith, Rtas destroyed the reaming turrets, thus allowing more air force down on the planet and more drop ships.

Rtas watched as a group of twelve Banshees flew down, with two U shaped drop ships, the Banshees firing a good twenty plasma bomb barrages to finish off the stragglers and the remains of the base. A dropship came by, and opened to reveal Roza'k' and a few other badly damaged Sangheili.

"Good to see you made it Rtas' Vadumee, the other teams managed to kill off the other turrets, we should be moving in to finish them off soon."

Rtas nodded, seeing other shuttles ferry around the other surviving squads. Checking off his team, Rtas clicked his mandibles together.

"Congratulations men, lets get aboard and watch the fireworks."

Watching the Unggoy and Sangheili get in, Rtas moved to the Wraith that had since moved to were he was. Getting out of the wraith, Naqua' moved to Rtas.

"Ah, without your help we would not have been able to come out unscathed, you have earned yourself honor Naqua'. You may grab a ride on our ship, and we'll see how it goes from there."

The female Sangheili nodded and jumped into the dropship, soon after followed by Rtas. The large shuttle picked up the Wraith, and ferried them down to the human's final base and the planet…

TO BE CONTINUED….

**_A/N Thanks so much you loyal readers! I feel terrible for not getting this up, not only is school taking up time but things like Tae' Kwon do classes and being sick with the flu manage to be a real pain in the arse . As I said, these will not becoming up as frequently, but I promise to finish this story as long as I still draw breath ( maybe a bit too dramatic…) Anyway, I will try my best to post a chapter once every two-three weeks, and on vacations I will do my best to write up two chapters per week. Please review, and tell me what you think! Thanks!_**


	9. Chapter8 Price of Arrogance

**Warning: If you copy/plagiarize any part of my story, you will be prosecuted to the maximum legal extent. If I can't really do anything to you legally, I'll just flame you and/or report you, unless it was honestly a coincidence. Enjoy!**

Disclaimer: None of the characters from Halo, Halo 2, or the Halo books are mine. Klasz Hakamamee (the name) belongs to Mr. Xiran and the character itself belongs to Bungie and Microsoft. Yes, he let me use the character, so don't flame me.  
**_A/N: Thank you all so very much, I know that I have been updating slower lately, but my writing skills continue to advance as it goes (at least I hope so ). I really have been doing my best to get this fic up, through rain, snow, and school I have been thinking up on the plot as well getting through the tiresome writers blocks I get if I don't plan out the story ahead of time. Not only that, but I've been glued to my T.V. set with my early Christmas present, the glorious Xbox 360 D. I also saw the new Halo 3 trailer, VERY beautiful. Along with all that, an online game called "Maple Story" has had me hooked (I am now a lvl 30 fire/Poison wizard if anyone wants to know) for a while here. All that aside though, I dearly love my reviewers, your advice helps me very much, and motivates me to write faster! Now, please enjoy my latest chapter….The Price of Arrogance.  
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**Rtas' Vadumee: Rise of a Recruit**

**Chapter 8**

**The Price of Arrogance**

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It was dawn now. Multiple Covenant drop ships and Banshee's circled over the human city, and Wraiths moved in to the ensuring chaos. The city had been under attack for the past seven hours, and the streets were paved with both human and Covenant blood. Warthogs and Scorpion tanks lay dismantled, pieces strewn across the land and mixed in with the bloody gore that would make even the hardest man puke. Fires had started, and they still burned and caused smoke over the perimeter, signifying a great struggle. But that struggle had only just begun.

Rtas could see the smoke even before he was within a miles radius of the city that the panicking humans had been holding up in. With their cannons and teams set up across the planet now destroyed, they were being beaten back deeper to their main base, holding out hope for a miracle. Rtas snorted and knew they had no chance to stand up to the might of the Covenant. The only time he had ever known fear for them, was with the Demon. And now, it was gone, leaving him honored and contempt.

The U shaped drop ship slowed now, coming up to their destination. Rtas held tightly to a bar, looking down at the ruined city. The amount of carnage was, simply put, immense. The humans had surprisingly held the area for a long while, using effective tactics and strategies that amused and amazed Rtas at the same time. They had various guard towers set up, with wide streets that would permit them to use their vehicles to the fullest extent, as well as many easily securable buildings. Rtas glanced to the side and saw three other drop ships along side of him, pulling in to drop of the other teams that had managed to survive the drop.

The young Major looked back to see his squad of units were all there and ready for the task that laid ahead of them. His team now held Dai', Zekunee with his younger sibling, Rtas's right hand man Kusovai; and the newest addition Naqua along with many Unggoy who all appeared anxious and nervous at the same time. Dawn was here, which meant

now was the time to strike the final blow and crush the humans here and now, without wasting any more time.

As the drop ship came to a near halt in the air, Rtas briefly wondered how the inferior aliens had managed to hold of the Covenant for so long? This brought him to think about why the Covenant simply did not offer the humans to join the Covenant. He shook his head and reminded himself of what the Prophets had told him. _These creatures halt us on are Great Journey, and are the Forerunners enemy's. They must be dealt with properly if the Covenant is to gain the great divine!_

__

This made little sense to Rtas, but he knew that his unshakable faith would lead him through. Now the shuttle lowered, its awkward door's opening to reveal the burnt city to the Covenant soldiers. Roza'k's voice was heard from inside the ship, static only slightly interfering with the message.

"**_Alright guys, here we are. You know your mission CRACKLE Be sure to inform us the moment you spot human forces, the Shipmaster plans on inspecting this situation himself."  
_**

Rtas checked his carbine, and felt the sword that rested on his belt before hopping out of the ship and landing on the hard, concrete ground below. His knees felt the surge when he landed, taking away most of the shock as his team followed him. Once the Sangheili and Unggoy were unloaded, Roza'k dropped the Wraith tank off before them. Naqua' quickly went inside the behemoth and piloted it. Scanning the area some more, Rtas saw that the other dropships had left their units and were beginning to take off, with several Ghost vehicles now parked below and their crew prepared for combat.

Rtas stopped for a split second to see four Kig-Yar foot soldiers under the command of a Sangheili major, just as Rtas was. The other team to his side held a single Lekgolo, obviously saddened for the apparent lost of its partner. The species shared a deep bound with their partners, and one never saw one without the other, unless of course it had been slaughtered. Rtas spared some pity and regret over the large creatures fallen comrade, but he stuck to his duties and looked on to see it accompanied by six Unggoy and another Sangheili Major, who held an energy sword. Each team was fitted with specific duties, and Rtas's relied mostly on the strength of his fellow brothers, the Sangheili.

Along with the six Sangheili he knew by heart now, he also counted a total of four Unggoy that were fitted with needlers and plasma pistols a single Unggoy held the almighty fuel rod cannon in his possession. Their squeaking revealed irritation in dealing with humans, but slight satisfaction was also apparent in the thought of blasting some more human marines. Rtas looked down on them with his dark green eyes, silencing them. The Wraith tank behind him immediately made its way up to his left, the cannons on the side now activated. Rtas nodded but waved the signal for it to be motionless, Naqua' inside, without delay stopped the vehicle as ordered. Rtas noted that now two Sangheili piloted the Ghosts besides him, apparently waiting for their leader's approval to move upwards.

Sniffing the air, Rtas stepped several feet forward, his massive hoofs crushing several small pebbles beneath them as he looked ahead at the city's military base. Up ahead no doubt held many humans trained to shoot the first thing that came in site with their sniper rifles and assault rifles. Other then that, Rtas decided that the heavy forces were most likely inside the large, rectangular base ahead. Around every corner lurked danger, but Rtas believed his team along with his other comrades would easily trek through it and deal with the threat accordingly. He still hated the smell of Kig-Yar though.

Banshees flew high above him, waiting for his orders to move up and assault whatever lay ahead. Rtas admired the respect and loyalty his many troops gave him, how they would sacrifice even themselves to assure the Covenant victory. The red clad soldier felt a pang in his heart, the losses he had encountered had been bad. Shaking off his thoughts, Rtas walked forward, his troops following him in a basic squad motion, the Wraith tank creeping up from behind. Motioning the Sangheili Major's, Rtas turned on his COM channels.

"This is Rtas 'Vadumee, my squad is in position to move ahead and take out any human scum ahead. We suspect slight resistance on our way to the military base, but it's best to be prepared."

The Inter-com was silent for only a moment, as a gruff voice came on the other line.

**_"Klasz 'Hakamamee, it is good to hear from you. Your father has said much of your tactical skills; those shall be much valued here. As for your idea, it's agreed. These pathetic scoundrels shall be stroke down by our holy might."_**

Rtas knew of his title, Klasz 'Hakamamee which was known throughout this region of the Covenant. It was quite an honor, and the Sangheili sensed a shock of glee from hearing it.

"Indeed, let us move our Ghosts out first, to scout right ahead of us. Depending on what they see, we will either move up in full force or pick them off one by one, whatever the situation calls for. Rtas out."

Forming a silent prayer for victory, Rtas told Naqua' the plan. She would be the bulk of the heavy assault force, backed up by Ghosts as well as Banshees and foot soldiers. Moving up in a crouched position, Rtas took out a pair of binocular like objects, the Tzoku armor of the Sangheili shining as the Ghosts departed and made their way deeper into the city past burning car's and rotting corpses. Rtas kept on the Inter-COM, prepared to move up and attack if necessary.

The Ghosts rounded the corner, and what they saw beyond it shocked them and caused Rtas to sweat. Guarding the entrance to the base, laid at least seven ODST Marines, clad in black armor and armed to the teeth with Snipers, MA5B's, and various other assorted weapons of death. Along with that held two machine gun turrets aimed by the entrance. But, worst of all was a fully armed, fully functional Scorpion Tank. And now the two Ghost pilots were face to face with the muzzle of the giant tank. The Scorpion tank fired.

Rtas saw the first ghost shredded to pieces by the blast, the vehicle torn to pieces now had pieces flung off to the side, the poor Sangheilis body ripped and tattered. The other Ghost driver was fortunately spread out from his comrade, his shields absorbing the damage as pieces of wreckage flew towards him. The tank turned slightly, aiming its large "gun" at the Sangheili piloting the Ghost. Soon after the shock, the Sangheili veered the Ghost around, narrowly avoiding one of the ODST's sniper shots that pinged off his Ghost.

Rtas roared orders to his comrades, having everyone getting into place and now talking specifically to the lone Ghost driver.

"Brother, quickly lure the enemy's Tank this way around the coroner!"

The Sangheili was smart, and did not waste his time or energy asking why. He moved and went full speed in his ghost as the Tank peppered him with machine gun fire and slowly advanced forward. His Ghost now being ripped apart, the Sangheili did his best to avoid the assault as best as he could, bullets penetrated his shields and sunk deep into his flesh, purple blue blood squirted out. Putting the pedal to the metal, the Ghost pushed past dead bodies and went around the corner, the tank close behind him and ready to finish the job.

Rtas glared, not at the Sangheili driving the Ghost, but rather past him at the end of the street. Holding his hand up, a bead of sweat rolled off his face and he concentrated deeply on his view. What felt like hours which was probably only about fifteen seconds, the sight of the tanks gun was viewed by the Covenant. Rtas practically flung his arm down and roared in his language. The Wraith behind him that was piloted by Naqua' moved slightly forward, and shot off a single large plasma bomb, which seemed to shine from the dawn and was fired at that exact spot were the tank was coming around. It made it around the corner in time to see the large plasma shot hit it.

The Covenant soldier's unleashed plasma barrages on it before it knew what had happened, and it soon exploded in a hellish blue and orange colored flame. Rtas told his followers to move up, and all three teams simultaneously moved up and secured the position that led up to the human base. They waited and listened for the sign of any Marines following the tank. None came. Rtas turned to see his fellow Covenant, and decided it was time to strike while the iron was hot.

Stopping and having his team look out to see if any humans came, Rtas explained his idea to Kusovai, and the other Sangheili Majors who had gathered there before him. After around short fifty seconds, they came to an agreement and got themselves posed for what await them. The Kig-Yar squawked in their own filthy language, moving up quickly to the very edge of the corner. A bead of sweat dripped from the young warriors head, the Tzoku armor of a veteran made him nervous, the thought of failure was not an option in itself. Rtas checked his binoculars one last time to the south of them, a blood red color covered the sky.

Peering through, it didn't take long for him to spot a banshee circling far off over in another part of the city. It was looking for any other human reinforcements or survivors. Rtas doubted it would find any, but he knew it was for the best that it searched, for if there was even the tiniest chance fleeing humans could have taken anything as precious as an artifact it could mean outright failure. He tried harder not to think about every possibility of failure, and the veteran Sangheili raised his hand high into the air once more, making quick, silent gestures.

Immediately, the large Lekgolo leaped out around the corner, taking precise aim with its mighty fuel rod cannon and shooting it into the marines, sniper rifle fire pinged harmlessly off its armor. The green glob of plasma traveled true, striking the first chain gun and obliterating it into a thousand little pieces along with the marine. Many marines looked to see the explosion, covering their eyes. This gave the single Unggoy the few precious seconds it needed to get into position.

The Unggoy fired a clean tow shots, the recoil nearly knocking it off its short, stubby legs. The plasma destroyed the other turret, taking two marines with it, including the operator of the turret. As this happened, the Sangheili and Kig-Yar moved up, the Sangheili who had carbines switched to them and opened fire with a barrage of death down on the marines, who were still trying to track down the Lekgolo and take it out.

Rtas fired a burst of carbine ammo into one of the marine snipers before he could get a shot at him, while the veteran nearest to him pelted two more of the marines, who fell under the combined barrage. As the last marines fell, Rtas felt pride in how his plan had shattered the human marines. Unfortunately, no plan is completely perfect.

As one of the marines died, he fiercely gripped his rocket launcher just as he gripped onto his fading life. His chest had been shot, legs dead and blood spewing out. He clung for a few precious seconds, and thought of his family back home. Young Larry his son and the older daughter Julie. His beautiful wife, Beatrice. With the last of his strength, he fired the rocket, it flew and struck a weakened building, which collapsed and fell to the ground as Covenant soldiers gazed up, the Sangheili rolling out of the way. Parts of the building fell down upon the Covenant soldiers, crushing beneath it two of the bird like creatures, and one of the single "Grunts". The Marine collapsed to the ground a grin on his face.

Rtas growled deeply, letting out a cry of anguish. That had been his Unggoy, and now thanks to one petty human they had lost three of their own. Sprinting to the side, he shot down the last human marine who was trying to flee inside the building. He made it to the entrance before a carbine nailed him in the back of the head. The results of the battle were heavily leading to Rtas, with three casualties, all lesser Covenant soldiers. But that didn't; make much of a difference to him; he cared for nearly all his warriors. Other then Kig-Yar of course, which disgusted him to no end.

Scouting the area, Rtas made hand signals, alerting his men and telling all to move up to the sides of him. Crouching low to the ground, they surveyed the area until coming upon the entrance. Rtas felt as though someone would take a shot at him at any second, but surprisingly the area was barren and empty. Many dead Covenant Sangheili and other soldiers laid dead around here, more marines that had apparently died in earlier sieges had been moved off to the side were they'd be safe. Rtas said a prayer for the Sangheili, and instructed the Unggoy and Jackals to carefully carry them to a safe spot as well.

As they completed the task, Rtas radioed Naqua to come up, now that it was fairly safe to move onward. With that out of the way, Rtas moved to meet the other veterans. One, who had been leading the Lekgolo, had a large scar in the shape of an "X" that slide down from his eye across his face, a battle scar from long ago.

"Rtas, the humans here have been eradicated. It would be best suggested that we radio in the Ship Master to let him know of our success before moving into the structure."

The older Sangheili spoke almost as though Rtas was of a higher rank, most likely because of his recent promotion.

"Agreed, there is no telling what may wait in the shadows, it is possible that our radio frequency's will not work in there."

Nodding, Rtas quickly called in the Ship Master via radio, going through one of the Ship Masters assistants.

"I must speak with the Ship Master now, our information is important to the mission."

The Sangheili on the other line was obviously stressed, so he managed to get Rtas in as quick as possible, and within a total of seven minutes he had a direct link with his father.

"Holy Ship Master, we have eliminated the human threat directly in front of the human structure, which we believe is the military base that holds the knowledge of their homeworld, as well as what might be an artifact. We await your superior leadership your Excellency."

Rtas truly loved and honored his father, and only whished to continue proving himself to him. His father spoke again with a voice that would give off the impression to any as though he knew all the answers, a calm and confident voice.

"Excellent work, I am personally coming down to assure our victory."

Rtas felt a shock of surprise in his spine that moment. His father was a Ship Master, a grand strategist for the Covenant military. A general usually did not go up with the infantry, after all. But of course, Ship Masters were required to be excellent in combat, and their skills exceeded those of normal Sangheili.

"Your Excellency, there is no need to humble us with your grace. Why is it that you wish to come down, if you don't mind me asking?"

Rtas knew the mistake he had made as he said it; a veteran could not question the orders of a Ship Master under any circumstances. A lesser Sangheili could be put to death, depending on situation. Rtas wished he had thought before speaking, but it was difficult enough to keep his cool while soldiers lay around him dead.

"Rtas 'Vadumee, Klasz 'Hakamamee, one of the Banshees sent off found a human battalion coming to relive the strained forces, so I will personally come along to add assistance."

The older Sangheili seemed to chuckle, but Rtas had trouble telling over the inter COM. Looking out to the south, Rtas noticed smoke rising far off past the city. Human reinforcements, which was what the humans here were calling for. Rtas clenched his mandibled mouth together tightly, wondering how much longer they had until the reinforcements arrived.

"Yes, you're Excellency. Thank you and we await your arrival."

Clicking the COM off, Rtas walked further down, crushing small pebbles of rubble beneath his feet as he strode down to the main entrance. It had a few windows in the front, most smashed and others cracked. Both bullet and plasma bolts had left their mark on the military building; leaving it with scars that had embedded themselves deep into the material from which the human base was constructed of.

Standing tall, Rtas looked as the Kig-Yar and Unggoy finished piling the dead and returning to the front of the base. The two Sangheili Majors stood side by side with Rtas, the Hunter stood almost motionless, looking deep into the base as though its soul had been captured and the only way to retrieve it was to journey deep into the dark perilous halls of the military structure. Rtas turned to see Naqua pop open the top of the Wraith, revealing herself to him. Off to the side, his four Sangheili squad members stayed separated, to defend if an unknown attack came. Yet they seemed united, as was he.

Dai' held his carbine tightly, looking off onto the horizon, his black colored eyes made him look lifeless at first glance, but if one looked at him long enough it was apparent he was intently thinking of something. Rtas trusted him like a brother, and in a way he was a brother. They were both in this war for the long haul.

Standing together were the two Sangheili brothers, each dueling wielding, Zekunee' with his favored plasma rifles and his younger brother with his duel needlers. They stood practically back to back, keeping keen vigilance. The two Sangheili had been with each other from the start of the war, and Rtas was glad to have them on his team. He hoped to the Forerunners that they would make it through this fight.

Rtas crooked his large head off to the side, spotting his right hand man and most trustworthy warrior, Kusovai. Kusovai had mastered the blade, and for one so young, he was awarded the right to bear the most holy of weapons. Kusovai had single handedly slaughtered over seventy-three humans with his blades. That nearly tied with Rtas's eighty-one.

Contemplating these things, Rtas thought of all the men he had lost, and his old major. No Sangheili feared death, for it only brought with it salvation, but sometimes Rtas wondered. Banishing the thought, Rtas heard the humming of a drop ship incoming. Turning, he took numerous steps forward, stopping when he saw the large, U shaped shuttle land ahead of him. Both sides opened, but only one Covenant soldier came out.

The Golden clad Sangheili stood with pride, the shine of his armor was reflected. All soldiers turned to see him and did a smile bow of the head, Alzeke' Vadumee had arrived upon the scene. He only carried a single weapon at his side, the Covenant Energy blade. Strapped in black leather with Tzoku fully clad on him, he appeared to be an angel sent from heaven. To the humans, he was an angel of death.

He strode quickly to the Covenant squads in front of the entrance hall, though it seemed as though he had all the time in the world. Rtas bowed deeply, before feeling the hand of his father that now lay on his shoulder. Looking up, Rtas saw Alzeke' looking down at him with a smile, or as much of a smile as mandible would allow him.

"Get up my son; we have much work to do."

Rtas stared into his father's green eyes, eyes just like his own, and saw the warmth. He controlled himself and rose to his feet as the drop ship pulled out, and flew back to the skies were it was required elsewhere. Now the young Major turned back to the tunnel, the Ship Master passing him and walking directly in front of the military base, gazing into it with a deep intensity. The sky formed storm clouds, ushering in the apocalypse for the military planet. Rtas looked, and sensed an omen. Whether it was an omen of victory or of defeat, he could not tell.

"Alright men, we are going to follow the halls of this structure to the very core of its center. From what our Ossoona's information has given us, the halls shall lead to several passageways, guiding us to believe that the human's have hid their most important information inside the structure. We shall take it by force, and leave nothing but ruin in our wake!"

The word "Ossoona" in the Covenants universal language was originally from the Sangheili culture, a term here meaning "Spy", or "silent thief". When the Covenant becomes one, taking in all of the other races that are established to this day, the Prophets changed the word to the meaning of "Eye of the Prophets". Personally, Rtas liked it better the way it was defined before, but the Prophets will was to go unquestioned by all but the Council.

As his father spoke, his deep voice and calm demeanor made Rtas want to follow the Ship Master to hell and back. Each and every one of the Covenant in the vicinity gazed at the shining warrior, who had killed hundreds upon hundreds of humans, casualties higher then any other warrior in that sector of Covenant space, and Rtas couldn't ever it changing. Rtas seemed awestruck by his father's words, as his speech went on, strong and deep, yet also soothing like a melody. Many Sangheili generals had long over time curried the skill to gain the trust and loyalty of all their troops, forming a strong bond with not a single squad, but hundreds of soldiers. Even the Lekgolo paused from its intent search to peer at the golden elite Sangheili. The Kig-Yar, noticed by Rtas, seemed more interested in the rotting meat of the humans, their tongues flicking in anticipation.

"Let no fear of death stop us in our holy mission, and shall you know that death is merely a stage that leads to the Great journey. For the Covenant!"

The Sangheili roared in unison, Rtas joining in. Unggoy squealed, and a deep low growl from the Lekgolo caused the ground to vibrate and pebbles jump. Alzeke' Vadumee took his blade from the tight notch in his belt, swung it out and activated it within a single swift motion, roaring into the sky. Klasz raised his fist into the air, and roared as well. He was the son of the Ship Master, and the strength of his will power had served him well in the past. His title would not be diminished.

The drop ship ahead flew through the air, two banshee' on either side of it moving through the dark clouds, and Rtas heard the crackle of thunder far off in the horizon. The shock sent a chill through his spine. Crumbled buildings burning from the fire that had spread, layered with the dead sent a stench through a powerful gust of wind over the area. Unfortunately, Sangheili tended to destroy everything in their path, leaving very little for the scientists on their ship to have much to analyze.

"Let us go, but be wary. The humans should not be underestimated, as a cornered race that is growing extinct can become more deadly then one may guess."

The Ship Master jogged forward into the building, Sangheili & Jackals following closing behind, Unggoy sprinting with their short legs with the Lekgolo shifting and following close behind. Rtas stood off to the right of his father; little did he know how true his father's words were….

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Zim Gustavo paced nervously, his military issue boots thumping on the concrete floor. At the desks stationed in the small room, sat ONI intelligence, the workers had their eyes glued to their monitors, intently watching it as though their lives depended on it. And they did. Zim was the general of the military base stationed on the human planet, were he had recently been planning an attack on the Covenant armada, before being hit by the brunt of it himself. It hadn't been too bad, the attack. They fortunately had nearly a days notice before the Covenant would arrive, and he had used that time to evacuate as many civilians as possible underground or off planet before the end of the world came.

Regrettably, they would not have had enough time to get off the planet and escape with all their weapons of the militia, as well as valuable data. Not only that, but the Covenant had apparently been watching and would be able to follow them through slip space and strike them down faster then without the annoyance of a planet halting them. Therefore, Zim had spent his time wisely, setting up traps all over the place along with cannons to take out the ships, and with any luck he could weaken the bastards, or even stop them. The general knew of course that this was wishful thinking, but he had little else to keep him occupied at the time.

Recently, a Covenant force had taken out the force of marines and ODST's in front of the base, blowing into the city and using their own roads and lanes against them, halting retreat. Worse yet, they had bloody taken out the majority of the cannons! Now Zim could only pray for reinforcements to arrive in time, before the Covenant soldiers could get inside and tear them apart piece by piece. That, of course, was not to say that Gustavo didn't have a few nasty surprises waiting ahead for the Covenant. Oh no, he had been ready for this.

Now as he paced, he scratched his rugged beard, and halted to look at the security screens that flared on. He thought the light might blind any average person, but the ONI intelligence officers seemed unfazed, typing in, to what seemed like Zim, random buttons on their keyboard-like devices. Zim had never been one to fiddle too much with the computer; after all, he was a general not a computer geek. Looking down on the computers screen, he saw that six of the forty-two cameras placed in the base had been destroyed by the Covenant infantry on its position.

From what he could gather, the Covenant were taking the direct approach, coming north and heading as straight as possible right for the center of the base, were he was right now. They must have been coming for information on his homeworld, but for some reason the seasoned soldier felt they had come for something else. The artifact.

Now, he looked towards a sealed door down the hall, one of many that were set up to defend the main room from intruders. Of course, this one wasn't like the others; it was more of a closet to the main room. However, it held in it an artifact found by scientists during the time they had been harvesting minerals from the area several months earlier.

Zim could still remember its image; he doubted he would ever forget it. The artifact was a large, glowing crystal, s shining white almost blue rock that seemed to emit a field of energy, or something that the scientist, or him for that matter, could decipher. But how could the Covenant have found out it was here, or even want the damn thing for god's sake? These questions nearly gave the general a head ache, so he went for a glass of water. As soon as he turned, he saw the devils face.

The monitor displayed the picture of an "Elite", one of the rarer strong units of the Covenant. Not many new of them, much less seen them. He had seen some at one time, when another planet was being destroyed, but only briefly. They were tall, muscular, and intelligent. Probably the brains AND brawn of the Covenant military. The creature on the screen's face growled angrily, and stabbed a sword that looked of pure light into it, smashing the camera into small fragments of what they had once been. Zim decided to grab an ibuprofen while he was getting a drink of water.

The marines were now hurriedly moving into position, sprinting, crawling, and aiming. This would be their final stand and, by god, Zim would see them through it if it killed him.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Rtas pushed forward, sneaking through corridors, the darkness surrounding and engulfing him. They had seen several human devices on their travels, and disposed of them as necessary before moving up ahead. Rtas crushed the human camera beneath his massive hoof as he crouched forward, plasma rifle in one hand. Now, his father had devised a method of stealth over brute force to move ahead, and they were slowly reaching the middle of the foundation from were the sacred artifact lay. His motion device detected nothing up ahead, but Rtas knew that not even the most amazing of forunner weapons could be counted on 100, so he kept his eyes open and focused. One slip up, and it was game over.

The Sangheilis attention was caught by the sudden creaking, coming from above. Rolling to his side, Rtas pointed his rifle at the ceiling, fearing that a grenade or something would fall from above and send him packing for the Great Journey. Strangely nothing happened, and many of the Unggoy and Sangheili looked to Rtas, and dismissed the noise. Rtas relaxed, easing forward and following his father. Jumping from behind the corner, the Covenant saw nothing hostile ahead of them. A long, narrow hallway lay above; the darkness seemed to eat the light that flickered from broken light bulbs that strung down.

The elder Vadumee' shrugged his head to the side, a sign for Rtas and the Unggoy to move up and take a look. Rtas's heart beat as the sound of thunder and lighting crackling outside, and the sound and wisps of the storm outside caused Rtas to nearly drop his weapon in confusion. But luckily for him, Rtas was spared the embarrassment by holding steadily to his gun and crouching up, a pair of Unggoy close behind. The Kig-Yar shields had been deactivated, so that they would be spotted immediately if the Covenant met up with human resistance, which Rtas had no doubt that they would.

Rtas felt as though the seconds were hours, crouch-walking up and expecting a marine with an assault rifle would jump out of the shadows and deliver him a face full of bullets, but nothing happened. Even Sangheili knew fear, but they all did their best to not allow it to show on the surface, especially not with troops following them. His back against the wall, Rtas got up onto his hoofed feet and motioned his father and fellow soldiers closer. The Lekgolo behind guarded them, Sangheili behind Unggoy and Kig-Yar in the front. Sangheili were known for being first into the fray, and that was mostly true. However, sometimes a mission called for the ability to avoid being shot between the eyes.

Taking a deep breath, Rtas swept from behind the corner, and was face to face with. Nothing. The storm outside blew louder. It felt as though the wind would cause the building to collapse, as it is feeling in the author's house at this very moment. I can only hope I will be able to finish Rtas's dangerous journey before my own journey here will be cut short gulp. Anyway, on with the Sangheili now.

In front of Rtas was a nearly identical hallway, yet narrower and on the sides held sealed metallic doors. Rtas crouched slightly, and moved up with the group. They stayed in a SWAT formation, close but not close enough to be taken out by a single grenade or rocket. Alzeke' frowned with his mandibles, and honorably stepped in front of Rtas, ushering him back a bit.

The squads moved now, past each door, checking for traps and such before making it to the last door. It was sealed shut tightly, and would not be opened through traditional means. They would need something slightly more, brutal then pushing a few buttons on the door. After inspecting it for a few moments, the Ship Master spoke to Rtas.

"Rtas, we need to blow this door. Place a bomb and set it up to detonate on command, when those doors are blown be prepared for anything, and everything. They are bound to be waiting for us right around the crook."

Rtas nodded, raising his fist before moving to his side, were Kusovai was already preparing the bomb. The Sangheili major was prepared, but he knew being prepared would matter little in this situation. As the seconds ticked off, Rtas saw that his father seemed completely calm, but he knew that every second was precious. Kusovai looked up at Rtas, nodded and handed him a sphere shaped device, metal grey in color.

"Here, the bomb shall detonate thirty seconds after being placed on the door and activated. The blast radius shouldn't be far, just enough to decimate the door. Good fortune, Rtas 'Vadumee."

Rtas smiled, and returned the honor. Stepping on his legs, the weariness he had felt in his knees were disappearing, crouching for so long would annoy even the hardest of soldiers. Placing the bomb in the center of the door, Rtas felt instantly that it hooked on with the door. The Covenant soldiers all moved back, shielding themselves with their armor, or energy shields for that matter. Pressing three large buttons in conjunction, the alien language speeded across the small device, and a timer was activated, the thunder outside going to a hush for the few moments. Punching the bomb with his fist, Rtas sprinted back down the pathway, and rolled, covering his hands over his head. As the seconds ticked off, Rtas began to think the device would not work. But as he was getting ready to turn and check, a thunderous boom blew sheets of metal in all directions, the door had been blown to bits and the explosion caused Rtas's shields to flare for a moment before returning to normal again. The young elite warrior turned, and saw down the long corridor into the next room. Inside of it, perched over twenty-seven marines equipped with snipers, rifles, rockets, and forerunners know what else. Rtas barely had time to shout before the nearest marine screamed in his own language to "fire".

As a single rocket came increased its speed rapidly as it came for them, Rtas rolled forward, instead of the more common, "look at the big rocket heading right for-", effectively and barley dodging the rocket, and the Sangheili all followed his lead. The Kig-Yar ducked down, while the Unggoy who were crouched proved short enough to avoid the hit. The rocket however soared into the Lekgolo, but the massive creature raised its heavy shield in the nick of team to avoid a fatal blow, the explosion knocking it back into the wall while sending Unggoy flying forward.

Now out of the dark corridor, Rtas felt a piercing sniper shot hit his shields, another round nailing him in the leg and causing him to trip. Rolling into the room, Rtas desperately looked for cover, raising his plasma rifle and shooting a sustained burst at the marines, hoping to hit them, or at least distract them long enough to escape the ambush. He had hoped that the marines wouldn't have been able to set up an surprise attack, yet it appeared as though it were inevitable.

MA5B rounds pelted him, and sent him sprawling for extra cover, coming upon a stack of ammunition boxes. The Unggoy who entered were almost instantaneously shot down by the assault rifles, but a few managed to jump for cover. A Sangheili Rtas had never met was shot in the head by a sniper, his helmet being knocked far off to the side and his brain splattering across the wall. The sight made Rtas sick to his abdomen, but he held against the boxes and prayed that his shield would revive. As the rest of the Sangheili entered, the Jackals raised their shields under the order of the Ship Master, providing cover for the Sangheili who moved with as much grace as they could muster.

Kusovai ended up on the opposite side of Rtas, using an obelisk that supported the ceiling as cover from the snipers, while the two brother Sangheili had moved off to a distant corner of the large, circular room and began to retaliate, the needler sent out many needles that sought out the humans and stabbed in to their flesh while the plasma rifles peppered them from a distant. Sadly, Rtas knew now that the humans had been waiting for them, and they used the boxes and their metallic armor as shields against the plasma and needles, firing off more assault rounds that dropped another Sangheili, whilst a pair of sniper rifles wielded by ODST's brought down the Major Sangheili that led the Kig-Yar, who had raised their shields and slowly began pushing forward, Alzeke' Vadumee along with the other Sangheili Major and the last pair of Unggoy following behind and shooting back as best they could. Rtas's shields slowly began recharging again, now a quarter of the way, he pulled a plasma grenade out from his belt, turned, and chucked it as far as he could at the marines behind the boxes. The blue blob flew through the air, landing on a marine's chest which resulted in him letting out a cry of surprise.

However, instead of trying to pull off the armor, the marine nobly jumped forward and sprinted, but failed to make it to the Covenant squads before blowing up, but effectively ensuring his fellow soldiers the chance to survive. Rtas respected that, and almost stopped shooting back for the moment, but he held fast and as his shields recharged to full he fired another burst, knocking a sniper off his feet and onto his back from the shot. Rtas's hand grew hot, and he knew his weapon was nearly overheated, but he had no time to avoid a sniper to his side, the bullet going right through his shields and again through his side. The pain was excruciating.

Rtas gripped his side, falling over in pain and using the cover to provide protection from the merciless ODST snipers. Rtas saw to the side, and the ODST with a rocket fired the massive gun, the Ship master rolling far too the side and the other Sangheili following, but the two front Kig-Yar were blown away, bodies splattered across the walls as the human's screamed in victory and continued to hold them down, finishing off more of the poor Unggoy unfortunate enough to be close to the Kig-Yar being blow apart.

It was hard for Rtas to keep track of what happened next, but from what he collect, he saw the marine trying to reload his rocket as the still alive Lekgolo sprinted at full speed, shield extended, through the long corridor, taking hundreds of rounds of MA5B, the snipers unable to get a clear shot at him. As the rocket man panicked to reload his weapon, the massive behemoth raised its shield, bullets making their way through his orange worm body for that split second as the orange blood spilled out and went onto many of the marine's faces. The Lekgolo used the rest of its strength to bring its weapon down, crushing an ODST beneath it, and blowing the boxes across the room, ruining the human's defense and causing them to scatter.

The Ship Master roared in anger, as the Lekgolo went happily to it bond partner, collapsing to the hard ground with a "thunk". Now, the lights flashed, as the wind and storm outside grew ever worse, and the Ship Master raced across the obelisks, thunderous booms hitting across the ground, he jumped from a box, the leap three times greater then any normal Sangheili. He dodged the sniper shots from this, and many marines were still trying to mow down the Unggoy and various Sangheili in their own private struggles when Alzeke' came down on them, his shining blade burning fiercely.

Rtas rolled from under the boxes and threw his rifle to the ground, pulling out his own blade and rushing into the skirmish, as most of them did. The rocket marine squashed beneath the shield of the passed Lekgolo, Rtas took this moment to race forward, cutting down the nearest marine who began firing a burst of rounds from his assault rifle. Chopping the gun in half, Rtas delivered a fatal front kick to the man's chest, sending him flying into one of the nearby obelisks. This cracked his back and brought him down.

Marines exploded from needlers, plasma burned their faces, and now the Ship Master cut apart three marines with a deadly swing that brought more blood out. As the Covenant got closer to the battle, it was apparent that they had more casualties, and the marines still held an advantage of being further back, but Rtas didn't know that they had another trap. Side stepping a snipers shot, Rtas jumped and lunged, decapitating the marines masked head and causing the body to flop to the ground.

Rtas then felt as though he had been stabbed a million times in the back, and fire was spread across his body. A chain gun seemed to pop out of nowhere, and was now shredding through his armor, shields depleted. It moved quickly to take down another Sangheili, who collapsed on the ground after trying to aim his carbine correctly and kill the single marine in the turret. Now Rtas collapsed to his knees, an explosion emitting from the right. Land mine.

The marines had two chain guns set up, and had hid them in the shadows of the room, planting land mines near the entrance, which now went off blowing Covenant soldiers off their feet's and to their deaths. Rtas felt his body being blown to the side, and he used all his strength to try and get up, but he felt as though his legs were jell-O and he had been zapped of all his strength. His vision began to blur, and he knew that if he let himself sleep, how would never wake up. Blood now covered the floors, and there were more marines arriving from the now opening doors.

Rtas raised his head upwards, to see the chain gun aiming right for his head. He was overwhelmed by fear, and the guns muzzle began to turn, all other noise cut off in the room, and it was as if time slowed down, and his life flashed before his eyes. The bullets left the muzzle, and came for Rtas's head, helmet damaged and cracked.

He saw the younger brother of Zekunee' die, a sniper killing him. Rtas would have wept for him, but he could not even weep for himself. As the time slowed, he saw Kusovai duel wielding his blades, slicing into the other chain gun, and blowing it to pieces, his shields being hammered by two stray ODST's with assault rifles. Kusovai turned and saw Rtas, a look of shock was apparent in his eyes. Rtas could not spot Dai' anywhere, nor his father. The last Kig-Yar fell, bullets finally breaking its shield and blowing it to pieces of a stench that Rtas would not wish on anyone. And now, it was his turn.

Rtas closed his eyes, and time resumed as regular. The bullets didn't impact on him though. They had instead met with the gold Tzoku's shields, and Rtas's father was now shielding him from the hundreds of bullets that now began cutting through the over shield. Rtas felt fear, regret, sadness, and love all at the same time, and he saw his father turn his head slightly to wink at him. Rtas got up; adrenaline coursing through his veins, Rtas pushed forward, and ran at the large gun with great haste. Without the time to switch targets the large chain gun was sliced almost directly in half by Rtas's energy sword, the pieces falling off and exploding, human impaled. His eyes were glazed and lifeless now.

Thunder boomed again, and Rtas could hear heavy rains outside. He turned to see his father, the Ship Master now on his knee, bleeding externally. The blue purple blood spewed, but his raised his head to see Rtas, and smiled, blood dripping from his face. He tried getting up, but fell, Rtas grabbing him before he hit the ground. The room was still in chaos, as the remaining Covenant soldiers began backing up, almost in retreat as the human forces and traps overwhelmed them. Rtas felt tears in his eyes, for his mission, for his men, and most of all for his father.

"Rtas….."

Wind blew outside, and Alzeke' was practically choking on his on blood, gasping and holding his sons hand as he tried to speak.

"Holy Ship Master, no, father! Come, we must go!"

Rtas began lifting his father up, dragging him behind a large nearby box to shield them. He knew inside what was happening, but he refused to accept it, and he began praying to the forerunners with all of his heart, tears strewing from his eyes. A Sangheili was never supposed to cry.

"…Listen..to me…son…I love you…so very..much..remember.."

The elder Sangheili looked deep into his sons eyes, and held on to the rest of life tightly, his will keeping him alive.

"…to always..look out for your team…watch over them, and complete the mission of possible…go..now."

Rtas held his father, and tried to get him to come, but it was too late. Rtas saw death all around him, Covenant soldiers looking for approval to retreat, and he was confused, saddened, and angry for not protecting his father. The Ship Master rose to his feet, amazingly, and roared, the thunder out side simultaneous. He pushed his son back, and raced forward, bullets hitting him, but nothing stopping him. Rtas ordered immediate retreat, and the last Sangheili as well as a single Unggoy rushed down the corridor, turning and heading for the exit, frantically dodging mines and bullets. Rtas galloped as well, but he twisted to see his father before turning around the bend.

Alzeke' Vadumee went out with a bang that day. Lunging forward, the Ship Master impaled the marine with his sword, and then activated all of his plasma grenades at once with his free hand, as he died, looking back at his son one last time as the enormous explosion caused by the plasma caused a rocket launcher to explode, which led to the other grenades detonation, and the entire room was filled with a huge explosion, Rtas barely getting out of the way and crossing the corner before it was too late.\

Dismissing the pain, Rtas caught up with the rest of his units, calling in for instant evacuation from the human base, but coming up with only static. The bloody storm was now messing with the frequencies, and he had to rely on intuition. Rtas saw the very last soldiers, and was happy to see Zekunee', Dai', and Kusovai all alive, as well as a single struggling Unggoy. They all were injured, but it was plain as the nose on your face Rtas was in the most need of a medic. Excuse the lame joke please.

"Kusovai, warriors, we must get out of the base and call for Evac, we cannot assault the base from the inside and will need to-"

Rtas was interrupted by the storm, the lights continued to flicker and his adrenaline rush wouldn't last forever. He was sure however that the Covenant infantry go the message, and they speeded up through the narrow dark corridors, the sound of the marines boots coming after them was reflected off the walls. How ironic.

They made their way through, all exhausted to the brink of death, but Rtas saw them to the main entrance. They were in the first room of the base, and Rtas saw that outside was as much of a hell as inside. Hundreds of Covenant soldiers now faced off against many more marines, lighting hitting buildings nearby and rain pounding heavily against the soldiers. The wind was strong, and as he reached the room, the winds exploded and glass shattered everywhere, just like the blood on the floor.

The Sangheili gripped his blade tightly, and heard the marines coming up behind them. Grabbing his last plasma grenade from his tattered belt, he threw it at the wall, the blue ball landing on a marines face as he came through. He screamed and gripped his face, four more marines stopping in their tracks besides him, and they heard Rtas shout in his own language.

"HOLY LIGHT!"

They exploded, and died beneath Rtas's feet. Rtas limped to the entrance, and saw far off Wraith tanks shot off their blue shining bombs, and banshee's soared through the skies, doing battle with human pelicans. The human reinforcements had arrived, and the storm was an omen of defeat. For once, the Covenant had lost. Rtas leaned across the wall, his soldiers coming up behind him, hope lost in the swarm of emotions, and Rtas felt that he and everyone here were going to die. Rtas moved forward, to go into battle and die honorably.

As he rose his sword to hack a nearby marine, two banshees came by, blowing nearby marines straight to the after life, and a Covenant drop ship stopped in front of Rtas. The pilot was known other then Roza'k. The door's slid open, and Rtas was greeted by Naqua, the female Sangheili looked nearly as tired as he was, and had a bandage on her face. Rtas's men rushed up to the side, and waited for Rtas to decide what next. Rtas stared into Naqua's hazel eyes, and felt joy that they had come back to retrieve him and his soldiers.

"Rtas! Were is the Ship Master? Is this all that is left? What of the artifact??"

Rtas didn't find energy for words, and his head slumped. Naqua took this as a sign and hefted Rtas into the ship, his soldiers following and getting in along with some other strugglers nearby. The Covenant drop ship rose, guarded by the two banshees', the battle on the ground continued. Roza'k lifted them higher, and into the dark sky, lighting missing them by inches and striking the front of the marine base. Human ships were arriving as they lifted, and the danger was not yet over.

Roza'k piloted through the dark clouds, rain hitting the odd U shaped shuttle, and a Pelican flying above them. The human ship shot down on them with chain guns, but Roza'k turned the ship to its side to avoid being hit in one of its weaker areas, the banshees flying and looping up, firing their plasma bombs and blowing the pelican's wing off. It spiraled down, going through the clouds to its fate. The banshee's returned to the ship, and they lifted into space, safety of the Covenant war ships nearby.

Rtas felt himself being patched up by Naqua, the wounds on his side being stitched. His eyes drifted, seeing grief on Zekunee's face for the loss of his brother. Dai's leg had been hit by a sniper multiple teams, a miracle he could lean on it. Kusovai's blades deactivated and back on his belt, he had been hit by part of the second rocket, and a land mine. MA5B shots had also broken through his armor. Rtas thought of his father, and drifted off to darkness, afraid never to wake again………………….

_**TO BE COUNTINUED……………………………………………………….**_

_**A/N: Wow that was an exciting and LONG chapter, eh? A good 20 pages. I hope I dramatized it enough, a good plot twist that will lead to a time skip sometime in the future from now. Don't worry, I plan for more adventures with Rtas, you can count on it. I stayed up all night finishing this, and some inspiration is coming from the storm outside my house right now. It is pouring, lighting cracking far back, and the wind is DEADLY. My lights were flickering when I wrote this. I spent a lot of time and thought into this chapter, so please review! Thank you all so very much!-Sincerely,**_

_**Noah**_


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